


Finding Love Among the Triceratopses

by wegoodandevilthings



Category: Jurassic World (2015), Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 02:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13067574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wegoodandevilthings/pseuds/wegoodandevilthings
Summary: Parallel to the storyline of Jurassic World, InGen Security employees Athos, Porthos, and Aramis have their own problems.This story fits into the movie somewhat seamlessly. Only the first chapter features any characters from Jurassic World, the rest is a slow burn get together cutefest between the Musketeers OT3 with rifles and dinosaurs and jungle.





	1. Chapter 1

_Isla Nublar_  
Jurassic World, The Garrison  
7:25 a.m.

_Beep._

_Beep beep._

_Beep._

**Athos de la Fère** woke with a start as always and interrupted the next double beep of his alarm clock with the tips of his fingers tapping the big button on top. He let out a last deep breath into the pillow, squeezing eyes shut before slowly opening them again. Sunlight was already shining in through the slits in the blinds, casting a beam of light on the wall next to him. He took his time waking up, as he usually did, knowing he had an extra couple of minutes. With a sigh, he twisted his head so it was facing the other half of the bed and _his_ other half, checking to make sure he hadn't just dreamed his partner's return home last night. All he could see was brown tufts and a warm body that showed the first signs of waking. After a week of spending his evenings alone, sleeping alone, and waking alone, it was fantastic to have his lover back in his bed again.

Aramis had been on a training exercise on Isla Sorna for a week to break in the new recruits and had only returned last night. He'd arrived tired and worn out from exhausting days and restless nights, and decidedly happy to be back home. He'd already been home when Athos returned from duty, lying on the couch after what had to be a long shower to get rid of a week of communal showers in a tent. Athos shifted closer to that dark mop of hair, finding his way under the covers with his fingers. That short haircut was already starting to grow out again – and would just continue growing into the messy curls Athos loved, right until the next time Hoskins decided it was against regulations and ordered Aramis to the barber. Athos rolled onto his side, which brought him close enough to stick his nose into his lover's nape. His nose was cold compared to the warmth between those shoulder blades. He let out a low, satisfied hum and pressed a soft kiss to warm skin.

A few years ago, not long after they had moved in together, Aramis had one day suggested, "Let me try something," and had changed Athos's alarm to one with a snooze window – just to see how he liked it, as Aramis had said back then, just for a few days at first. (Cautiously, because he knew Athos had a system.) He'd never gone back. Ever since, his alarm beeped five minutes before he liked to get up, giving them a few quiet moments in the mornings before the day began. Today, those minutes felt extra precious. Aramis wouldn't have to get up yet, so Athos was careful not to rouse him to full wakefulness.

Usually, their duty days matched. Athos, having been a captain in the Marines, was offered a commanding rank at InGen Security when he was recruited, which gave him some control over his schedule and even some weight when it came to the others'. It was easy to plan their rotations so they fit together, but since his partner had been on a week-long exercise, their rotations wouldn't be in synch again until next Monday. Aramis deserved a few extra days off after a week of active rotation.

"Hm?" Athos asked, getting up on one elbow and tilting his head forward, because he couldn't make out the muffled, garbled words coming from the other pillow. He pressed another kiss to Aramis's shoulder. It was a silent _'Good morning_ ,' and a _'Glad you're back_ ,' rolled into one. They didn't have enough time for more. "What was that?" he asked with a sappy grin.

A groan followed and his other half twisted until he lay on his back, a hand covering his eyes. Athos marveled at the sight, enjoying his lover being scruffier than usual. "'s it time to get up already?" Aramis asked again, voice gravelly from sleep.

"For me, yes," Athos said and reached out until his hand rested on his lover's stomach. He couldn't get up just yet, not with that lovely view. "How did you sleep?" he enquired.

"Couldn't fall asleep right away and woke up twice." A shrug followed and Athos watched as those nimble fingers entangled with his own. He could feel a rough patch of skin and a scab over a cut. The statement was followed by a blinding grin when his lover turned to him and yawned, stretching, arching his back like a cat. "But I slept great." The, _'next to you,'_ was implied. Athos smiled in response. It was always pleasant to be reassured that their relationship was still as loving as it had been since the beginning. They reminded and reassured each other of that fact often enough.

A restless night after a week-long training exercise was usual fare. It took a night or two until the body got used to a full seven hours without interruptions again. "You've got the day off, right?" Athos asked, disentangling their fingers and sitting up.  
  
Aramis nodded, but corrected himself. "Well, technically, I'm on call, but you shouldn't need me. There are two containment teams in active rotation." Aramis slapped a hand over his mouth and yawned again. "I checked my schedule last night." He squeezed Athos's fingers. "I'll try to get another hour of sleep before I head out. We have a debriefing at nine. I think we lost two of the new guys to dino jitters. They're just not cut out for it." InGen Security had always done better with men who had seen active combat than with the boots, who had never been under fire, that they got now. Unfortunately, that meant InGen now often got recruits who left shortly after joining, or the other extreme, those who had seen active combat and missed it. Athos didn't like either.

"Shhh," Athos murmured, knowing that thinking about work would nix any chance Aramis had of going back to sleep. "Shop talk later. You get some more sleep. Tell me after." Athos didn't want his love awake and reporting right now. He wanted him sleepy and yawning and warm and pliant. He'd get his soldier and comrade in arms back soon enough. Right now, he wanted his partner in that other sense of the word.

He moved back and scooted out of bed. He pushed the blinds aside for a moment to open the window. Right now, this early, it was still cool enough to let some fresh air in. They turned the AC off during the night because Athos couldn't sleep with that constant humming noise and Aramis woke up when he got cold. He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for duty.

When he came back out, Aramis was curled up again, facing the empty half of the bed. Not asleep, but also not quite awake. "I'm leaving the window open, will you close it later?" he asked as he picked up after himself, tossing his and Aramis's clothes from last night into the hamper. A sleepy, agreeable hum was the only response he got.

"Hey," he said and kneeled with one knee on the bed, touching Aramis's face with the other. Aramis moved into the thumb brushing over his cheekbone with a sleepy smile. Athos tapped the tip of his nose. "Did you hear me? Close the window before you leave."

Another vague, "mmhm," was his answer, so he pressed a minty-fresh kiss to his lover's cheek and got up. If he didn't leave now, he'd be tempted to just go back to bed and fool around with that warm, sleepy pile. He timed the AC to switch on at five in the evening so the apartment would be cool, then he slapped a sticky note on Aramis's phone to remind him to close the window before plugging the phone in to charge the battery. If he didn't, Aramis would be out and about, stressing all day with 19% counting down. He cast one last look back, but then he was out the door and on his way to the war room at the garrison.

Athos had been part of the InGen Security team for four years now and he only knew the buildings that InGen Security and its personnel were housed in as 'the garrison.' In the beginning, as Athos had let someone explain to him on his first day, everything had just been called 'staff quarters' and letter buildings until someone had had enough of the ensuing confusion and separated the buildings into the 'staff' and 'garrison' buildings. Secretly Athos thought that some of the military members had probably taken offense at being called 'staff' and had insisted on the name change.

InGen Security personnel was made up mainly of ex-soldiers, recruited from different branches of the military, and because they were used to fighting for their place in the ranks, they had obviously quickly renamed their space to better fit them. The designation had stayed even after regular staff had been moved closer to the resort after its completion and everything up by Park Operations and their offices had filled up with other InGen teams. The control room was the heart of the park and it was only fitting that a garrison should defend it.

The garrison housed personnel in two buildings, usually in doubles but some of the higher ranking members got their own, larger apartments, especially if they were willing to share. Offices, workshops, training facilities, and other communal rooms were located in another. Each building had a storm shelter in the basement. One had been turned into a gun range, the other two served as storage facilities. Isla Nublar had originally been chosen because it was the safest of that island group and got the fewest hurricanes. After all, the buildings on Isla Sorna, Site B, had been destroyed by a hurricane even before the original Jurassic Park had opened. After a precedent like that, everyone was careful. Every once in a while, they had to batten down the hatches, but usually they just got extremely wet, bad tropical storms. He'd been on Sorna once when a hurricane hit that island. The chaos that hurricane had left behind certainly wasn't something they could afford on Nublar where the actual park was located. They had enough to do with the weather they got.

He arrived at the war room and checked his phone, seeing that he had received a text not long after he'd left that said, **We should go to the beach this weekend :)**. He wholeheartedly agreed and sent an affirmative text back. They lived on a Caribbean island. They should definitely get to the beach more often than they did. He schooled his expression to a cooler one when he heard people approach. He took his job seriously and knew that personnel looked up to him and respected him – in part because he had a reputation as a no-nonsense captain who was unflappable under pressure. Aramis found it hilarious that his lover was so different, so much warmer and more pliant, at home, but absolutely respected his choices – and most importantly, respected him at work and trusted him blindly. They had never served together in the same unit when they were still in the military, but it had taken only a single training exercise for them to cement their absolute trust in each other. It had been a relief for both of them.

When the ACU team leaders arrived for their morning briefing, they took his mind off of his lover and their bed and focused on work. Before they could even start, a call came in. Another Pachycephalosaurus, or Pachy for short because at least all of them could say that without stammering, had wandered out of containment. The park employed 'invisible fences' for the herbivores and especially engineered paddocks for the carnivores. All animals were tracked with special implants that shocked them when they walked out of their areas. This meant the herbivores could roam the plains and valleys more peacefully – as long as they stayed within the areas designated to them. Athos knew that there had been complaints from some of the animal handlers about that, but that had never gone anywhere. The system worked for the most part. Pachys, however, butted heads, both to fight and as a mating ritual, which tended to disable their implants. So far, the scientists hadn't yet found a solution to that particular problem. It meant, however, that every once in a while an ACU team had to roll out to tranq a Pachy, fix the implant, and bring it back to its herd. This was the second time this month that this happened. McKinney logged the incident on the appropriate sheet on the pin board. These were, in their opinion, all avoidable incidents, and would be brought up at the next meeting with the heads of the park's management team.

"Those damn invisible fences," Hamada grumbled because he found everything to be an inconvenience. Athos often shared his opinion, but rarely said anything. It didn't do for a leader to complain as much as Hamada did. McKinney offered, "We'll take it," and called his team before he grabbed his gear. He took the keys to MVU-11, or Mobile Veterinary Unit van 11, a large Mercedes Benz Unimog U 4000 that already had a dent from a Pachy incident in its side. Once McKinney was gone, Austin offered to take down notes for him during the meeting and Athos began.

 

**~*~**

 

Down at the resort, **Claire Dearing** had an early start as well. She had a meeting with the Verizon investors in the Creations Lab and convinced them to invest in the Indominus Rex. It was not even ten yet and she had already saved and made the park millions. She marveled at her success, allowing herself a mental pat on the shoulder for being so damn good at her job, before making her way to the Innovation Center where Zara was delivering her nephews Zach and Grady. She didn't know what she was thinking, inviting these two here when her sister had asked. They were her nephews, sure, but she also hadn't seen them in years. Her sister was getting a divorce; that was the main reason Claire had agreed.

On the way to the Innovation Center, Simon Masrani called her to invite her to join him. He wanted to know how the talk had gone and wanted to see the Indominus Rex for himself. He was a curious boss, hands-on and fascinated by the goings on of his park. Claire had learned soon after she had started working for him as Park Operations Manager that his approach to his businesses was not a form of micromanaging. He didn't do it because he didn't trust her, but rather because he was genuinely interested. He was not a typical business man – except for when it came to demanding her time when she had hoped that she would have at least an hour to say hi to her nephews. She was genuinely sorry that she could not walk around the park with them because it would have been interesting to see the park from visitors' eyes for once.

As it was, she was asked to come to the helipad on top of the Park Operations building in half an hour. The trip there would already take fifteen, and if she got in early, she could use the time before Masrani arrived to check in on the control room. Because as much as she admired that Masrani didn't micromanage, she hadn't quite managed to stop doing exactly that yet. Claire felt she was responsible for the success of this park and took her job seriously. She got paid to make sure everything ran smoothly – especially in a park whose predecessor had so spectacularly failed before it had even opened – and prided herself on the fact that she was the first female operations manager of the only entertainment park of its kind.

She had barely been in the control room for more than a few minutes, when a tech alerted the room to the arrival of JW01, or Jurassic World helicopter 01. Glad to be able to leave the dark room behind, Claire was out the door and on her way to meet Simon Masrani on the helipad to show him their new creation. He had already announced the new dinosaur a few months back, driving up ticket sales, and as soon as the paddock was done, they could show her to the world. He had, however, not personally come north to see her yet. That would change today.

After giving Masrani a tour of the small, airy viewing gallery of Paddock 11 where the Indominus Rex was housed, she called the control room and had the tech operating the switchboard patch her through to the garrison. The phone rang four times before someone picked up, making her tap her foot impatiently.

"Captain de la Fère," a voice grumbled into her ear after a fifth ring. The male voice on the other end sounded like she had interrupted him. There was no 'hello' or 'what can I do for you.' She didn't get those military types. Their attitude was why she had never gone on a second date with Owen Grady after all. They had no manners. _(Boardshorts. On a date.)_

"This is Claire Dearing speaking. I need to know where I can find Owen Grady," she told the captain. (She didn't know that there were military ranks here. She had only ever seen the words 'Commander' and 'Trooper' used in the documents she'd seen.) She knew he would know where to find the Navy SEAL. All personnel had to sign in and out whenever they entered or left an area. This ensured the safety of everybody – personnel, guests, as well as the assets – and almost more importantly, prevented industrial espionage. It also kept track of where in the park someone could be found. Originally, the control room had been in charge of this personnel ID tracker, but after a few incidents that had been rather close calls, the security division had thrown their weight around and demanded they cut out the middle man and be in charge of it, at least for the security personnel. Claire had agreed at the time, realizing that it made a lot more sense for communications between teams and their backups to be handled by the units themselves. Being mostly military members, they were a lot more efficient with radio communications among each other as well. As much as she disliked being spoken to in such a gruff voice, she knew she would get what she wanted without questions.

"Hold on," the voice on the other end growled into the phone before the speaker leaned away from the phone, speaking to someone else. The fact that the phone had no hold music forced her to listen to the conversation in the background. "Check the sign-in for Grady, will you?" Someone even further away than de la Fère called out an affirmative and a muffled conversation took place she couldn't hear properly. A moment later, the gravelly voice came through the speaker again loud and clear, "Ma'am, he's still signed in at the raptor paddock. I'll patch you through. Out."

The call disconnected before she could thank him and she had to wait another few rings before someone picked up at the raptor paddock. "Vallon speaking," a slightly deeper but equally gruff voice answered the phone.

"This is Claire Dearing, I need to find Owen Grady," she repeated her earlier spiel and waited for an answer.

"Hold on, I'll see if I can find him." A clatter told her that the receiver had gotten put down somewhere and she had to wait again. A moment later Vallon was back with bad news. "Barry says he just signed out. You'll probably catch him at his place. If there's anything we can do?" He formed the last part as a question, but she just thanked him and disconnected the call. Masrani wanted Grady to inspect the Indominus Rex paddock and she agreed. The man, insufferable as he was about it, knew what he was doing. She'd have to take the car and drive out there. Grady had chosen one of the patchiest reception areas as his home, almost as if to spite them all. Luckily for her, his weird trailer home wasn't far.

 

**~*~**

 

While Claire took Owen to the Indominus Rex paddock to inspect it for structural issues, **Athos** was in the main office of the garrison, going over his schedule for the weekend. All commanding officers shared that room with its three computer desks. There was no need (and neither the space) for every team leader or captain to have their own office, so whenever someone required a computer or needed a desk to work at, they came in here. Everyone had their own lockable cabinet for files and a few shelves. There were tactical books and strategy guides, evacuation plans, lists of paddocks and the dinosaurs in them. They were equipped handbooks and guides on everything from A to Z, all of them read and then put up on the shelf in a vague, not-quite-alphabetical order. This room was their library for everything concerning the islands they were in charge of protecting.

Charlie, Aramis's team leader, had come in earlier to start filling out reports for the training exercise they had been on, but he'd left ten minutes ago to get a coffee. Athos liked Charlie. They'd served in sister companies in Iraq and he trusted the man with his lover's life, which was probably the highest compliment he could pay anyone. Charlie was not doing well behind a desk, though, so it came as no surprise that he would drag out his coffee break for as long as possible- it also gave Athos the opportunity to walk over and check the schedule Charlie had Aramis on for the weekend so he could organize his own hours around that. Being in command brought with it the heavy burden of responsibility over others' lives and way too much paperwork, but it also meant he could do something sneaky like this without his motives being questioned.

Suddenly, the speaker came to life with a crackle. "All ACU teams on alert. Code 19. Code one-niner. All ACU teams on standby. Out."

A few months into this job, Athos had learned that it was difficult here to decide when something was serious or not. In some ways, it was not unlike back in the Marines – the job consisted of a lot of waiting and downtime, until something big happened and then it was all hands on deck. A Code 19 had sounded exciting in the beginning, until the speaker had cried wolf too many times for some small issue that could be solved by a sniper with a tranq gun. Aramis certainly got his practice in, talking about the difference between air density here and in Afghanistan sometimes and helping the new recruits with their calculations.  

By now, a few years later, Athos was used to these announcements over the comms. It had become a standard message that came through every week at some point. Especially with the problems they had with the implants of the Pachies lately, this was nothing surprising. Athos was not on an ACU team, so he didn't have to pay attention. He looked for his phone, however, to check in with Aramis to see if he had gotten the alert as well. One could never be too blasé about these things. One of these days, it might be something big.

He was interrupted by Hamada knocking on his door. He looked hectic. "Hey, a call just came in from the control room. Zone Six, east of the river. Fuse box 27 shorted out again. We're all on alert until this blows over, would you mind picking that up?"

Of course Athos didn't mind doing his job. "Of course. Everything alright?" he asked. The other was usually one of the coolest guys around, so to see him upset by something was disconcerting.

"Yeah," Hamada said, waving Athos's concern off. "It's just… these alerts are always a hassle."

They certainly were that. It halted whatever people were doing, or at least glued them to the sat phones in case a team got called up. "Go ahead. I'll call an electrician and drive up there. Don't worry about it." A fuse box was a job for the on-site electrician and usually an ACU team drove them up there in case they needed to handle a dinosaur. Today would be different. Today there would be a one-man escort. In the east of Isla Nublar there was the Jungle River, where the kayaking tourists could enjoy themselves with prehistoric giants. East of that was marsh land and to avoid stampedes getting too close to that sudden drop there, an invisible fence had been set up to keep animals from getting too close. Only marsh land and electricity didn't work too well, not even for a company that made a third of its revenue from the energy sector. Apparently making better fuses was not high on Masrani's list of efficient engineering.

"I'll check in with you if we encounter any assets we can't deal with," he said, even though he doubted that would happen. After so many years, Athos had picked up a few tricks.

Hamada hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. "I would if I could," he replied with what Athos thought was the short version of 'I don't want to send you out there without an ACU team, but there's nothing I can do right now.'

"Don't worry about it." Athos would have said more, but he was sure Hamada got it. They were both men of few words, at least when they were sober and at work. Athos knew that he could be very talkative under the right circumstances. Hamada also had no authority over Athos, so his asking was a request more than anything without any official backing from the brass, in this case Hoskins or Masrani himself. There was no reason for him to hem and haw and apologize for asking for a favor and being so nervous about it.

When Hamada had left, Athos shut down the computer and sighed at the time sheets lying half on top of the keyboard. He shifted them around so they were lying next to it in case someone needed the work space, but left them there. He'd rather drive out to check ten fuse boxes than do the scheduling but he knew he'd have to get back to it eventually. He stepped out and closed the office door behind him before he walked over to where InGen Security kept all the keys to the motor pool.

Damn it. It looked like everyone had been faster than him today. The E-Mercedes Benzes were the most coveted vehicles because they were light, despite being electric cars. On an island in the Caribbean, with muddy roads, the shiny, silver cars were preferable to the Jeeps – the work horses of the park. Back in Hammond's original park, no one had thought that dinosaurs could get loose and the result had been scary. By now, everyone and their mother had seen pictures of the original Jeep that had been squashed by a T-Rex – with two children on board, no less. Now, in the new park, all the Jeeps had fortified roll cages in them, which, in addition to the electric engines, made those cars heavy and unresponsive, not unlike the Humvees most of them had ridden around Iraq or Afghanistan in. Athos did not enjoy driving those heavy hitters across unpaved, muddy roads, especially not in the swampy area he was going to today. But, unfortunately, that type was the only vehicle left. Taking a quick moment to think about a few relaxing things he would be doing with Aramis a few hours from now, he grabbed a key and picked up an electrician on his way to the motor pool. He could do this.

 

**~*~**

 

**Owen Grady** entered the control room, fuming. What the hell. He had gotten his breathing under control again, but he was angry. A control room security – some guy in a suit – tried to stop him, but he ignored him. What the hell was going on. He zeroed in on Claire, hating her for a moment for keeping things from him, for putting people at risk, for not seeing what was right in front of her eyes, that these geneticists were doing something that went against nature and common sense. And most of all, he hated that she still didn't see that the creatures she was lording over were real animals. Seeing her eyes, that vulnerable look, a look that said 'I know I fucked up' only calmed him for a moment – until she claimed that there had to have been a technical malfunction. That was not what he had seen and he told her so.

One of the assistants' voice calling out a distance reading and the beep in the background made him listen. Four hundred meters to what? When he saw the two squads on the screens with body cam feeds and heart rate readings, he couldn't believe what he saw. The video footage showed him that there were three squads out there, but the third was missing a member. He squinted and what he saw made a shiver run through his arms and chest that felt like ice in his veins. Non-lethals. The ACU teams went in there, with Indominus Rex, with _non-lethal weapons_. Who had authorized that? Surely Athos at least, responsible captain that he was, wouldn't just go in without getting more data, without making sure- he interrupted his own thoughts.

No, not Athos. Hamada, Hoskins's little pet Commander, who did everything the big boss asked without questioning orders. Austin, the jokester one who ate way too many bananas, leading the other squad. He ran down the names of the troopers. Craig, whom he had just last night bested at dart three rounds in a row, grumpy Lee, and Meyers following Hamada. Miller, Spears, and that crazy Army Ranger with the mermaid tattoo, Cooper, flanking with Austin. He counted more people on the feeds and looked at one of the smaller computer screens to see if he could get the names of the third squad. His breath hitched when he saw Aramis's name under Charlie's. He couldn't see him on the screen, so he assumed his friend was hanging back with the tranq rifle as he usually did. The guy was an unparalleled sniper, of course they'd get him for this Code 19.

Fact was, these men and women would die. He begged Claire to call off the mission, someone, he wanted to get on the comms and call Hamada and Austin and Charlie back. This would not end well for any of them and he couldn't believe he had to watch his comrades die on what amounted to an IMAX screen. He'd made it through two tours and he'd not once felt as awful and helpless as he did right now. Two months into his first tour, he'd watched his sister company get shot at and they had been maybe two hundred and fifty feet away, but he had been _there_ , not four miles away in a room without any chance of helping out.

Just as he wanted to ask Claire where Athos was, why no one had thought to bring their best military strategist into this, all hell broke loose on the screens. He watched the Indominus attack and one heart rate meter after the other go red and flat. He checked the names, surreptitiously eyeing the status of the third team that wasn't on the big screen. 'Please, be smart, Aramis. Don't do that reckless shit you always do. Be smart. Stay back.'

Moments later, everything was over. Hamada, Craig, Lee, Miller, Spears, Cooper – all dead. Meyers had an irregular heartbeat, Austin's was slowing down. Charlie, dead. Mavis, dead. Jenkins's heart rate wasn't promising either.

The only one still alive and seemingly well, albeit with a heartrate through the roof, was Aramis, who was hopefully staying wherever the fuck he was, out of the way. Owen looked around, at Masrani, at Claire, at the techs. They looked too shocked to act, so surprised when something didn't go as expected. They were too stunned to even notice that they could still get some of these people out if only they _did something_.

He wondered if they even realized they had to evacuate the island. Now that this fight – this ridiculous attempt at 'catching' a 40 ft., angry carnivore with hope and spit – was over and the island had basically fought with everything it was willing to fight with, the Indominus had learned that humans were no threat. Humans were little annoyances with stun guns and nets, but handy snacks because they didn't have the teeth to hurt her back.

After a heated discussion with Masrani, he stomped out, taking the elevator back down. Once he was outside, he remembered that broken scream, Hamada's last words telling them all that it could camouflage. It. _She_. Because she was a living, breathing animal, that hadn't been 'raised' so much as created and then left alone. He felt for her, but he also knew that this event could only have one possible outcome. Realizing that no one else was going to do anything against the Indominus quickly enough, possibly because they didn't even know yet that anything had happened, Owen made his way to the resort. Let them stay in that room with its computers and screens and _screams_ , let them cling to that last bit of fictitious control they thought they had. That was the difference between them and people like him. He'd been in war zones, he'd been in firefights, and all of the shit he'd been through gave him an advantage over these people. He could make decisions. And when it came to some multi-trillion-dollar product and human lives, Owen knew which he'd pick again and again if the decision was put to him. ACU could use live ammo in an emergency situation. This was clearly an emergency situation.

He'd have to talk to one of the genetic engineers at the Creations Lab, to the man who had created the Indominus to see what they had put into that mix. If they knew what the Indominus was made of, they might be able to better fight her. She could make herself invisible to thermal cameras. She could camouflage. What else could she do that no one had thought to mention?

He got on the phone immediately once he was out of the elevator, dialing Athos's cell phone as he went to take his bike down to the backlot of the park where he could gain entrance to the labs to talk to Dr. Wu.  

"Grady," Athos said in lieu of a greeting when he picked up. "What's up? Over." The phone crackled and he sounded broken up like he was out of range somewhere. His use of military radio protocol told Owen that he knew that his reception was patchy. This damn island and its lack of functioning telecommunications system. Owen had long stopped asking himself why Masrani, who owned Mascom Network, one of the most revolutionary companies in the telecommunications world, was unable to set up enough cell towers to cover all of Isla Nublar.

"Athos, where the hell are you? I need you back here. The Indominus escaped." He added an "Over," as an afterthought so Athos would know he was expecting an answer. He didn't dare say anything about Aramis yet. He couldn't say that over the phone, not without looking his friend in the eyes and telling him that the last he'd seen was that Aramis was alive and well… alone in the Restricted Area with three wounded comrades and maybe five miles from the North Gate.

"What? Say again," came Athos's confused question through the phone and Owen knew he'd only half heard what he had just said. Just barely stopping himself from falling back into asking 'How copy?' Owen just repeated what he had said. "The Indominus escaped," he enunciated clearly. "I need you back here." He tried to say it loudly and slowly, like that would matter with those damn cell towers. Even satellite phones were patchy at best and he didn't know if Athos had taken one.

"What escaped? Listen, tell Hamada the fuse box is fine. I don't know why someone sent me all the way out there," Athos's voice came through, suddenly clearly and without interference. He sounded unhappy the way he often was when someone higher up in the command chain screwed up. Owen sometimes wondered how Athos hadn't expired from exasperation in Iraq with the Marines. Nothing ever went according to plan for devil dogs.

Athos's voice came through clearly though, meaning he had probably found a working spot where the phone didn't crackle and stopped the car there. They all did that. It made for a hilarious image sometimes, seeing someone rooted to the spot, talking on the phone as if invisibly anchored. This hopefully meant that he could hear Owen well, too.

Owen didn't know anything about a fuse box, and neither did he care. "The Indominus Rex escaped! You need to get back here now," he said a third time, irritated and tired. He didn't need to tell Hamada anything because the Commander was dead. 

Finally, Athos's reply was what Owen wanted to hear. "Copy. I'm on my way. Update me. What's going on?"

"Hoskins sent three ACU teams after the Indominus with non-lethals. There are maybe three, four survivors in all and no one's doing anything to get them back," Owen rushed out. He needed Athos's help.

"Non-lethals," Athos repeated. Owen could hear the wonder in his tone – the questioning note of his statement asked why he hadn't been called in. Owen probably realized at the same time as Athos that someone hadn't wanted him to organize that mission. Some story about a blown fuse box to lure him to the eastern sector, far enough for him to not make it back in time before the mission was already underway. Owen couldn't imagine how it had to feel to realize that he'd purposefully been sent away in order to save the park's precious new killing machine. It sent a rush of cold through his chest and that probably didn't even come close to what Athos was feeling right now. Hoskins just knew them all too well, knew that he could never order Athos to do something as moronic as going after the Indominus with non-lethals. Just like Hoskins knew he could never get Grady to do that field test he so desperately wanted. Hamada, on the other hand, would do whatever Hoskins wanted, hoping for a promotion the next time a spot higher up was vacated.

Owen listened as Athos told the engineer to get out, the slamming of a car door following. Suddenly, Athos was back with Owen. "Were all ACU teams called in?" he asked in a strained voice. Owen knew exactly what he was asking, or rather, after whom.

"Athos…," Owen tried. He really didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. "Last I saw he was fine. I promise. Elevated heartrate, but steady. You know him. He's smart, he'll have taken some live ammo with him even if they told him not to." He didn't need to say Aramis's name. They both knew who they were talking about.

Owen was fairly certain that he was the only one who knew just how important those two were to each other. He didn't know Aramis well, even though they sometimes got called out together. Aramis was in ACU and animals were Owen's job, so their orders overlaid sometimes when an asset escaped from its area. Aramis was not easy to get to know. Like many snipers he kept to himself, not out of choice, but because he was regarded as different. Owen knew the problem well – many of the regular troopers in the ACU didn't like snipers, causing them to treat what should have been their fellow soldiers like they didn't belong. He tried to be friendly with Aramis whenever he could but he was never sure if his attempts were appreciated. They did sports together sometimes – like playing basketball in the courtyard when it wasn't too hot, or spotting for each other at the gym. He knew Athos a lot better, especially since they had come here about the same time and had their very first training exercise on Sorna together.

He hadn't known and would never have guessed that there was anything more than camaraderie and friendship between the two if he hadn't caught them acting more than friendly towards each other one day. He'd gone to the gun range to get some practice time in and caught Aramis explaining something about the scope on his rifle to Athos. There had been packaging material on the table behind them, giving away that it was new and they had been working on setting it up. It had been the look on Athos's face that had told Owen that his mind was on something completely different than the parallax dial and the detail of the MOA clicks Aramis was describing. He had been smiling slyly, mumbling something and touching the scope, too quiet for Owen to hear - and then there had been Aramis's laughing, exasperated, "Stop that!"

Something had given Owen away then, because the next thing he knew was Athos looking at him, schooling his features into the cool look he usually showed, a look he had been working on not using when he was talking to Owen. The moment had been intimate and not for the eyes of others and Owen had never seen them as relaxed and happy as he had in that moment again.

Still, he felt it had been mutually understood in that moment that he wouldn't ask and Athos wouldn't tell – even though DADT had been repealed for a few years at the time. He certainly didn't talk to Athos any differently than he always had before. Owen was fairly certain Athos had said something to his partner because not long after, Aramis had asked him if he wanted to join a game of basketball for the first time. He had opened up first and Owen had been happy to accept the tentative friendship they had been building ever since.

Now was not the time to mince words. He knew what was going on with them and he couldn't pretend that he didn't, not when Athos's breaths were coming so harshly through the speaker. "You need to get your ass to the raptor paddock. Find Porthos. He's a tracker. He knows Zone 5 like the back of his hand. He'll help you get Aramis back." He purposefully made his sentences short and tried to make them sound like orders so Athos would be able to follow easily.

"Will do." Athos paused for a moment, before he quietly mumbled, "Thank you, Owen." Then the call disconnected and Owen was alone again. He looked at his watch. It wasn't even 2 p.m. and he felt like he had run a marathon already today. He called the raptor paddock, hoping Porthos would pick up.

"Vallon." Porthos's voice sounded stressed and breathy, like he had run to the phone.

Glad that he had gotten the person he needed on the phone, he felt like finally something about today was going right. "Porthos, it's me, Owen. Listen, whatever Hoskins says or does, forget it."

The name alone got an angry snarl out of Porthos and he responded with an upset, "He came through here and just took off! Barry went after him to see what he's up to, I don't know where-"

Owen interrupted Porthos. "Forget about Hoskins." He had no idea if Porthos would listen if he gave the order to ignore orders from the man who was basically their highest-ranking commanding officer. But they were not in the war anymore, they were private contractors now, and they all knew that their boss was out for himself first. "Captain de la Fère is going to come and pick you up. Security sent three ACU teams into the Restricted Area to catch the Indominus Rex and they got attacked. We need to get the survivors out. Can you help him? You should be able to find their vehicles if you follow the main road."

"Survivors?" Porthos asked, breath halting.

"Three people, maybe. Brace yourself for what you'll find up there, alright?" Owen hated having to send Porthos there to scrape up what was left after an eight-ton carnivore had bitten its way through. He was an open, affable guy, friends with most of the other soldiers. Hell, he was the one who had introduced Owen to Barry, who was now his right hand man when it came to raptor training.

"Shit," was Porthos's succinct reaction. "Can you… ah, give me names?" His voice was hesitant, worried and quiet. Owen was sure there were names Porthos didn't want to hear right now.

"Hamada, Craig, Lee, Miller, Spears..." Owen trailed off, realizing he'd forgotten the rest. He felt bad for a moment that he couldn't remember the names of their fallen comrades. He knew there were more, but right now, he couldn't think of their names. "Listen, Indominus clawed her beacon out. We don't know where she is, so be careful. She disappeared from thermal cameras and apparently she can camouflage, so be aware. I have no idea what they put in her gene pool. And it doesn't matter if you keep still – she can smell you. So mask your scent." Porthos would make sure that all of that information got relayed to Athos later. "Of course the survivors are your priority, but if at all possible, bring that piece back she clawed out. It's still got the beacon inside. Put it in a freezer box. We need to get that shit tested or something to figure out what she is." They needed to find out what the hell the genetics lab had cooked up. He just didn't know how they could do that without alerting Dr. Wu or anyone else.

"Alright. Hey, there's a car coming up the drive," Porthos reported. "Looks like he's here. I'll talk to you later."


	2. Two

 

**Porthos** hung up the phone and raised his arm at the newcomer to wave him closer. The captain did as he was bidden and stopped next to Porthos. He got out and for a moment, Porthos wondered how he hadn't made friends with this guy before. He was handsome, blue, frosty eyes boring into him the moment he got out of the car. Porthos only vaguely recognized the man from seeing him around the garrison. He'd seen him with Aramis a few times, one of his better friends on the island – and someone he hoped to see safe and sound. As far as he knew, Aramis was still on a training exercise on Sorna, so he wouldn't be here.

"Are you Porthos?" the captain asked, looking up as if surprised to see that Porthos was taller than him. They had a similar body type, Porthos noted, both were broad and muscled. The captain was confident, appearing taller than he was, which made Porthos feel bad about what he always did to look less intimidating: hunching to appear shorter.

Porthos reached out, stretching his hand towards the other's to shake it. "Yes. De la Fère? Owen just called me." The name was a mouthful, but thankfully the captain was either used to people mangling his name, even someone with a French name themselves, and quickly waved his hand.

"Athos, please," de la Fère offered, a twitch of a smile in one corner of his mouth. Suddenly, it was like two puzzle pieces fit together. Porthos knew of Athos, but hadn't been able to connect the man to the legend before. The name was used by some people in a deferential way the way others spoke Hoskins's name. He had just never noticed that it was a first name and easier to say than the man's last name. Athos was someone the others trusted implicitly. 'Athos said,' and 'Athos called,' and 'but Athos' – Porthos had heard that name spoken a couple of times in the past, mostly by new recruits. He'd always wanted to meet the man.

"I didn't know you'd be you," Porthos said with a smile. That didn't make sense and he almost regretted saying it. But the genuinely surprised look – as if Athos didn't know that people looked up to him – that he got in return was worth it. "Alright, Athos. I need to grab a freezer box and then we'll be off. I'll be back in a moment." Athos followed him into the building, but didn't try to stop him or ask what he was doing with a freezer box. He simply accepted that before Porthos could come with him, he needed that. It made Porthos smile confidently. This was his turf and he knew his stuff. There was no reason to be nervous.

"Do you have any weapons here? Live ammo?" Athos asked then. "I drove straight here and had no time to stop by the garrison."

Porthos nodded and gestured for Athos to enter the weapons locker first. He reached for the light switch and waited the few seconds it took for the fluorescent lights to blink on. "Sure. We've got some HKs. Owen usually uses a Mark 14, but we only have one of those here." He hit the number pad on the weapons locker and opened it before doing the same with the locker next to it. He'd let Athos choose his weapon of choice.

"A Heckler's doing the job," Athos grumbled and stepped around Porthos to reach into the locker quickly, hastily. "You're taking one as well," he stated like a fact and handed Porthos one. Porthos put it on the table and grabbed his vest. It was a lot more comfortable to carry a rifle when you could just snap it into your vest and had both hands free, but he could just as easily put it on in the car. He wanted to get to Zone 5 just as quickly as Athos did.

He held a second vest out to Athos as well before filling the cooler with ammo. They could divvy that up on the road. He guessed Athos didn't care for the standard Heckler & Koch HK417 that InGen Security handed out. Porthos liked it for its weight, but admitted that because they never used them outside of training or on the shooting range, it was a lot different than the M-4 he used to carry during his tours in Iraq.

Athos strapped himself in, weapon at the ready, a pinched look on his face. Grabbing the cooler and weapons had barely taken a few minutes, but Athos's demeanor was getting more urgent. It spurned Porthos on to move quickly back to the car. "I'll drive," he offered, because he knew the road better. Athos conceded with an eager nod.

"Keys are still in the car," he said and got into the passenger seat. He began putting on his vest as Porthos drove them north to Zone 5 and reached back into the cooler on the backseat to reach their ammo cache. He stuck magazines into the pockets, doing the same with Porthos's vest. He kept it on his lap, fidgeting with a latch. The drive was not particularly long, but Athos became more and more agitated.

"One of your men is out there?" Porthos asked, hesitant, because he remembered what Owen had said. 'Brace yourself for what you're going to find.' There wouldn't be much left of the three teams that had gone north.

"Yes," Athos mumbled, reaching for his chest. Porthos didn't think he realized he was running a finger over the chain around his neck, trailing off where it disappeared into his uniform. "Owen said he's still alive. But it's Zone 5. It's not restricted for nothing."

Porthos could understand the worry for one's soldiers. He cast a look at Athos's profile on a straight stretch of road. "We'll get them." He drove a little faster out in the open because he had a better field of vision. The increase of speed visibly calmed Athos.

Finally, they drove into the jungle, the green canopy casting the road into darkness and Porthos slowed down again. For a moment, he could barely make out anything in front of him because the transition from bright sunlight to a dark jungle strained his eyes. The electric vehicles didn't make any noise, which was great, but it also meant sometimes unsuspecting animals ran across the road without realizing what a danger they were in. Suddenly, he saw a vehicle up ahead – at the same time as Athos said, "There," with a finger pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah," he confirmed. That had to be it. The scene looked macabre. The unpaved road was disrupted, the lead vehicle was standing sideways, not how any of their drivers would park a car. The vehicle itself already clearly showed that something had rammed it.

They hit a pothole and came to a stop not far away from the other car. "Now, listen. Owen said the animal clawed out her beacon so they don't know where she is. Let me check the area first, before we stray too far from the vehicle." This was the reason Owen had sent him out here after all – he was the tracker. Everyone else stayed behind him.

Athos nodded and got out of the car with him, rifle at the ready, its suppressor pointing at the ground, but with a grip that meant Athos would be fire ready in a second. "Three ACU teams," he said then and looked around. "That's twelve people." Porthos realized what he meant the moment he saw the deep gashes in the road. Twelve people would not have fit into that one car. There had to be a transport vehicle that had gotten rammed aside. The tire marks in the road showed that it had gotten hit by something heavy. A gap in the underbrush to their right gave away that it had most likely been hurled in that direction. He looked behind him in the direction they had come from, noting that the pothole they had rattled over was actually foot prints. He followed the steps until it was clear that the distance between them marked the clear departure of the Indominus. It wasn't here anymore.

"She's gone that way," he said and then turned and gestured in the opposite direction. "Coming from there. But she took a detour by the cars."

"It's gone?" Athos asked to confirm.

"I'm pretty sure. Those footprints are far apart, meaning she was running. Doesn't look like circling back or stalking behavior." Of course, he didn't know the Indominus. He had no idea what she was capable of. He could only speculate, given the data he had. She had just killed almost a dozen people who had hurt her. She wouldn't linger. "Athos, Grady told me she can camouflage. And if we encounter her, you need to cover yourself in something strong smelling. Gun oil, mud, anything strong and pungent. Grady says she's got a terrifying sense of smell." He didn't know how Owen had found that out, but he'd take it.

He turned to Athos from where he had looked back at the retreating footprints, but Athos was walking off, disappearing into the gap in the underbrush, probably to check on the transport vehicle. Owen had said there would be survivors – but how were they to bring those survivors back if they didn't have the space in the car?

He ran after Athos, boots stomping on the soft ground, following Athos's desperate dash. He rounded a bush and found Athos staring at the upturned transport vehicle. It was badly dinted, the doors flung open and askew.

"Athos?" he asked, coming closer. Athos's breath was heaving. "There's no one in here," he mumbled, sounding forlorn for a second. Porthos knew this guy was the most trusted officer at the garrison, but right now he looked… human. Suddenly, he brought a hand to his mouth and called out, impossibly loud, voice breaking at the end, "René!" He turned in a half circle, looking around.

"René?" Porthos asked quietly, as if to confirm that was who had should be shouting for. He didn't know a René. They mostly just called each other by their last names or nicknames.

"Aramis," Athos corrected himself. "He goes by Aramis."

That name, on the other hand, caused a shiver to run down Porthos's back. Aramis was who they were looking for? His friend, who was supposed to be safe and sound on Sorna on some stupid training exercise to help the new recruits find their footing, was here in the shit? If Owen hadn't called him, if Owen hadn't sent Athos to find him, he wouldn't even have known. " _Aramis_ is who we're looking for?" he asked to confirm. His own expression had to give away that he knew that name, because Athos nodded urgently, shouting the name again, desperate and loud. He was about to say something else to Porthos, when a faint voice called back Athos's name, interrupting them both.

Wide-eyed, Athos turned to Porthos. "Where did that come from?" he asked breathlessly. Porthos turned, calling out for his friend again. He turned around and went back to the road. "There," he said, pointing to where the Indominus had come from – where, most likely, they would find their mauled team members.

They crossed the road quickly, running into the underbrush. Leaves slapped against them and their feet sloshed in the mud on the ground, fallen leaves rustling as they made their way into the jungle. Porthos could see the signs of earlier steps, careful and slow steps through the jungle.

"We're here!" Aramis's voice called out again to ensure they would find him. He came stumbling towards them a moment later, the arms and knees of his uniform bloody, but otherwise whole. He was pale and sweaty, the black uniform a stark contrast against his skin. Porthos could only imagine what it had to have been like, alone in the jungle after an attack, not sure if anyone would come looking for him. The 'we' was a great relief, meaning he hadn't been completely alone.

Athos's reaction to Aramis coming towards them surprised him. The captain had a reputation as steely and cool in all circumstances. But now, Athos pushed past Porthos, embracing the other man, sweat, blood, and all. They were the same height, but in that moment, Athos towered over the other, protective and heavy with relief. Aramis sagged against him, pressing his face into Athos's neck. Porthos realized he was not watching the reunion of two soldiers right now, but something much deeper. Aramis was one of Porthos's best friends and he hadn't known that. It hurt for a moment, to not have been entrusted that secret. It hurt even more because he had started to like Aramis as something more than a friend. It was a silly crush, just a spark for now, but to see that trampled under heel sent a spike of ice through his chest. He had thought that Aramis had flirted with him a little, but maybe that was just Aramis being friendly. He had been silly, thinking he would find love on this island.

Porthos came closer then and nodded at Aramis, who was only now looking up and noticing him. "Porthos," he said with a tired smile and disentangled himself from Athos, who was unwilling to let go. In that moment, seeing Aramis's smile at him the way he did, Porthos felt oddly precious and cherished. Like Aramis didn't think of him any less than he thought of Athos in that moment. He seemed relieved to see him here, something Porthos hadn't expected. Athos noticed and nodded gratefully, smiling as well. Porthos didn't know what to think. Then Aramis pulled at Athos and gestured at Porthos. He turned to return to where he had come from, and let them know that, "Austin is alive. He's bruised, but alright." He made his way back to where he had left Austin, not looking right or left.

The scene around them was gruesome. There was blood everywhere, in a pattern that made no sense until Porthos pictured a 40 ft. tall predator snatching up people and throwing them against things or crunching right through them. He saw the bodies of his friends and felt sick and dizzy from the sight. Every single body had been turned over to check for signs of life, even the most gruesome ones. He saw bloody handprints on at least two faces, presumably from Aramis. He couldn't imagine what it had been like, to be so surprised, decimated so easily and quickly, having to watch the scene unfold and to be left with the debris left behind. Aramis had lost fellow soldiers before, Porthos knew that, but this was different.

To distract Aramis as they slowly made their way back, Athos asked, "Why didn't you call me?" There was a mix of helplessness and anger in his tone. Porthos knew that feeling. Athos might not even have been able to do anything. When the Code 19 came through over the comms, they didn't know what they were up against. By now they were so used to the problem with the Pachies that a Code 19 looked like an easily manageable problem. Porthos didn't exactly work with Owen and the others with the raptors, but close by – and even he had gotten _used_ to dinosaurs. He knew now that that was a mistake they had all made.

"Everything happened so fast," Aramis explained. He looked studiously at his feet as he was making his way through the jungle. "I tried, but your phone was out of range. Next thing I know, Charlie told me we were to back up two active ACU teams." Aramis still had one hand on Athos's arm like he was unwilling to let go. "It was a mess. The teams went in, Charlie told me to hang back, to take cover and shoot when I had a target." His breath hitched, almost the only sign that gave away that he was still shocked by what had happened. Porthos knew Aramis was as cool as Athos under pressure, but seeing his team mates die in front of him had clearly done a number on him. His eyes looked glassy whenever he turned back, and he moved jerkily like the adrenaline hadn't completely worn off yet.

"You were supposed to tranq it?" Porthos asked. He always tried to get Aramis when they had to tranquilize one of the assets because with him, he could just bring a picture and point to where the animal should be hit to tranquilize it most effectively. He never missed the spot. Some of the others got nervous and were happy to just hit the broad side of the barn.

Aramis nodded and suddenly stopped walking. Porthos looked around him and saw Austin tiredly looking up at them. He was sitting against the tree, propped up against it and clearly in pain. He was sweating and his breathing was irregular.

"Back," Aramis told his injured comrade. "Told you Athos would come. And look, he brought your personal medevac." He turned around and grinned at Porthos.

"Hey, guys," Austin mumbled quietly, raising his hand. "Just to make it clear, I never doubted you. Not for a second."

Even Athos had to grin at the comment amidst the death and chaos around them. "Sight for sore eyes you are," he muttered and bumped his fist into Austin's. The ACU Commander was young and still a bit flighty, but everyone liked him for his ability to make them laugh. Porthos noticed that Athos looked at him rather fondly. With two teammates on the ground and Athos checking on Austin, Porthos stayed standing up, observing the jungle around them. It wouldn't do for them to be caught unawares now.

"Do we get a medevac or something?" Aramis asked.

Athos shrugged. "We might be quicker just driving out. The closest spot a helo can land is over by the valley and we just came from there. It'll be easier to take the car back than wait for an evac." Athos sounded collected, but Porthos could see his pinched face. He was anything but. Aramis hung onto his every word and he nodded eagerly, grasping at any solution that was offered to him.

Around them, the bodies of team mates were piling up and Porthos could see the way Athos's eyes were fixed on Aramis's hands. Porthos followed his line of sight and caught them shaking. They were bloody, some of it dried and flaky. It was under his nails and had soaked into his cuffs. He didn't even seem to notice. He had wiped his face at some point so there was a swipe of red there, too. Porthos didn't have the heart to tell him.

"Aramis, why don't you help me with Austin?" he asked and nodded at Athos. "We'll get him to the car. Can you look around and see if you can find a piece of dinosaur lying around somewhere? It should have a beacon-"

"Hey, hey," Austin interrupted them. Speaking audibly cost him a lot of energy because he pulled in a labored breath that clearly hurt. "I got…" He fumbled with what looked like his watch on his wrist. "It's tracking the beacon," he slurred as Aramis helped him get the tracking device off his wrist. Aramis gave it to Athos and when Porthos noticed the way Aramis's fingers dug into his partner's, he looked away to give them some privacy. He bent over Austin and wondered how to best get him up with as little pain as possible.

"Thanks," Athos said. "Aramis, you okay helping Porthos?"

Porthos focused on Aramis, who had been staring off at a spot not far away and now bobbed his head at their captain with wide eyes. "Of course." A helpless chuckle wrenched itself free from his throat. "Indominus. Lived right up to its name," he murmured and looked straight at Porthos. Athos just nodded and went off, following the tracking beacon on the watch gadget Austin had gotten him, obviously quite content to let Porthos handle this.

"Yeah, it sure fucking did," he replied and wanted nothing more than to pick up Aramis instead of Austin. He took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this. Austin, this is going to hurt."

The ACU Commander braced himself for pain, grimacing before Porthos had even touched him and then gasped and whined as he was pulled upright. A fireman carry was out of the question with his bruised side, but he managed to walk fine for half of the way. Then he suddenly sagged, out of breath and exhausted. Porthos didn't ask or urge him to walk on, he just picked him up like a bride. Only, Austin was heavy and Porthos was strong, but not that strong, so he grimaced right back. "Jesus, you're heavy."

Austin laughed, a cough escaping. "Ow. But it's all muscle, babe."

Aramis giggled behind them. "Liar. You got flabby like every other fucker getting out."

They lost themselves in silly banter on the way back. At least it wasn't much further until they got to the road and the car. Aramis hurried around Porthos and opened the passenger door to the lead vehicle. Porthos carefully went around the hood and deposited the injured soldier outside. While he helped Austin sit down in the passenger seat and strapped him in, Aramis was standing next to him, hand on the door to assist. He put a hand on Porthos's back when he pulled back once Austin was strapped in and shut the door.

"Thank you for coming," he mumbled quietly.

Porthos debated with himself whether to tell Aramis that if Owen hadn't been in the control room when the ACU teams had gotten sent in and then called Athos and him, no one would have come looking for them. Athos wouldn't have known that Aramis was even gone until the next time he would have tried to make contact. Maybe InGen would have gotten the bodies out eventually once everything was over. Fucking InGen Security. They were no better than any other private security company out there, sending people into war zones with cheap equipment and no support.

Then he realized that Aramis wasn't talking about 'you' as in Porthos and Athos, because he assumed Athos would have come anyway to rescue him and get him out, but about him specifically. "Of course I came," he said and patted Aramis's shoulder. "Come on, help me grab the cooler. We want to be ready when Athos gets back."

The cooler was in the backseat, but Porthos guided his friend to the trunk instead where the supplies were. He opened it and nonchalantly so as to not give his intentions away, grabbed a water bottle. He uncapped it and poured water over Aramis's hands, helping him wash them clean of the blood. He wet his own hands and wiped them over Aramis's scruffy cheeks and face. Aramis closed his eyes and just focused on breathing, letting Porthos work. The moment was unexpectedly intimate. "Thanks," he muttered when Porthos was done and opened his eyes. "I had to see if they were still alive." The way he said it, it sounded like an apology.

Porthos offered Aramis the rest of the bottle to drink when Athos returned with the piece of flesh. He'd put on the medical gloves in his vest to hold it, looking at it with disgust. "This is a first," he muttered as he held it out. His face let Porthos know how bad the decomposing piece of flesh stunk even before he could smell it. He pulled the lid off the cooler and stepped back. Aramis made a face. "Yuck," he mumbled and put some more distance between them. "I'll go check on Austin," he said to excuse himself and grabbed another bottle of water.

"Thanks," Porthos told Athos when he dropped it in. It smelled awful so he quickly closed the cooler. "I sure as hell hope Owen can still use that for something."

Athos agreed and looked at the two cars as he pulled the gloves off and threw them into the cooler with the slab of flesh. "We'll take both cars. If this fuck-up is any indication of the shitstorm that's coming down on us, we'll probably need all the vehicles we can get to pick people up."

Porthos agreed, watching as Aramis made his way to the vehicle Porthos and Athos had come in. "Yeah, I'll take Austin to the First Aid Station, see if we can get him first in line if they're evacuating people."

Athos groaned. "Jesus. Can you imagine? We've got like twenty thousand people on this island. They can't evacuate all of them just because of one asset."

Porthos shook his head. There was no 'can't' for him on that issue. They might have to if ACU didn't manage to keep this in Zone 5. "If they had let the ACU use deadly force, we wouldn't be having this debate." Four miles was quite a stretch for the Indominus – and why would she even go south to where the park was? She might keep north of it, given that there were plenty of other dinosaurs there.

"Greedy bastards," Athos grumbled. Aramis was now sitting in the passenger seat, fumbling with the buttons, maybe to get the AC going, occasionally looking at them to see when they were going to leave. "Alright. We'll turn around." A little more under his breath he added, "I need to get him out of here. Maybe get him to talk a little. He's too quiet."

"You do that," Porthos replied. He looked over to where Austin was sitting and sighed. What a colossal fuck-up. "Turn around and we'll follow you?"

Athos nodded and got into the car, leaving Porthos to put the cooler into the backseat of his own. "Ready?" he asked Austin as they watched Athos make a slow, unwieldy 3-point-turn.

"Ready to get some pain meds," Austin groaned in his seat. A quick check showed that he was pale and sweaty and in pain. He was holding the water bottle but didn't drink from it. Maybe he was worried about internal injuries. He'd poured some over his face, though, because the front of his shirt was wet.

"We'll be with a pretty nurse in no time," Porthos promised and started the car, slowly following Athos out of the jungle. He drove more slowly than Athos, more carefully, and he wondered if Athos being angry had anything to do with his driving. "Slow down," he mumbled under his breath just to say something.

Next to him Austin snorted. "Just because you drive like an old lady, doesn't mean…"

Porthos interrupted him with a, "It's a safety issue," and a throwaway gesture at his passenger. "You've been working here for a year or so? These dinosaurs don't take kindly to cars." He didn't know why he felt the need to explain this to Austin. The ACU teams' drivers got instructions on how to drive through the various areas of the park and Austin had never bothered to attend one of those workshops because he had an excellent driver on his team. Had had, actually, Porthos realized. Jesus Christ, this day was truly and utterly fucked. Austin had had an experienced driver in Spears - who was lying in the jungle in pieces now. Porthos tried to dispel the image by focusing on the road. He knew this day would haunt him for a long time if not for the rest of his life. He doubted he could ever forget what his buddies looked like back there.

Once they were out in the open, driving across the plain, he pointed towards a herd of triceratopses between the trees. The trees were reaching the road and Porthos pointed. "This is like 'deer crossing' you know? They don't hear the ele-" He was stunned – shocked – into silence when suddenly two triceratops bulls shot out of the trees and one of them propelled itself directly at Athos's car. The crash happened before Porthos could do so much as yell or brake or anything. One moment, the car in front of them was driving, the next, a huge dinosaur was crashing into it, its hard, horned snout ramming into the side of the Jeep.

At first, it looked like the heavy car was getting away, just bumping along, wheels off the ground, but not enough to overbalance, when the dinosaur gave another hefty push and half-lifted, half-pushed the car away. It flipped slowly, like in slow motion, before it skidded and toppled over, landing on its side. The triceratops gave another mighty push, accomplishing only that the Jeep slid a little on its side, before the bull that it had been racing roared at it, distracting it from its target. The two dinosaurs went off in a lazy, shuffling half-gallop, and Porthos realized he and Austin were just standing there in the middle of the road. Sometime during that spectacle, he'd braked and just stopped to watch the wreck unfold. Some tiny part of his brain noticed that the two triceratopses had been young and most likely just playing. They were like bulls in a china shop – too big, too exuberant, enjoying the open plain on a sweltering, hot day that would most likely end in a thunderstorm. That didn't change the fact that they had rolled Athos and Aramis's Jeep over.

"Shit," Austin wheezed next to him. He had tensed up and was pressing a hand to his ribs and side, the other stretched out. Their sudden full stop had caused him some pain, so Porthos shot him a quick and belated, "Sorry."

'Shit' was an accurate assessment. Porthos pressed the Start button again and drove closer, stopping next to the other car. Technically, all working vehicles had roll cages and nothing should have happened. He was scared nonetheless. He got out of the vehicle and rounded the other one until he could see in through the windshield. It was cracked and Athos and Aramis were both pushing with their boots against it to get it off. For a second, Porthos likened that moment – the sight of them both mobile and working to get out by themselves – to the best thing he had ever seen. They were both fine, even if Athos was hanging awkwardly, moving around and bracing himself while Aramis was doing his best to gain some momentum from his sitting position on the door. It looked comical, the two men trying to arrange themselves in the new position the car was in. Once they had managed to get the windshield off, Porthos helped pull it away from them.

"Fucking hell," Aramis cursed loudly, staring at the dashboard in front of him with a mutinous glare. He breathed in through clenched teeth, making a hissing noise. Then he went quiet and covered his face with one hand, specifically his eyes.

"You alright?" Porthos asked, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Give him a moment," Athos advised and carefully climbed down, feet carefully stepping down next to Aramis. Only then did Porthos notice that Aramis's shoulders had started to shake. A quiet litany of 'shit, shit, shit,' fell from Aramis's lips as if he was angry at himself for being upset.

"Babe," Athos mumbled, unconcerned that Porthos was right there. He kneeled down and maneuvered Aramis until he folded into his partner's body, face burrowed into his neck. "It's just the adrenaline," Athos explained to both his lover and Porthos at the same time. He shared a quick look with Porthos before he pressed a kiss to Aramis's temple, smoothing something with the hand Porthos couldn't see. "You're fine. Your body's just done with you today."

"I think so, too," Aramis said, sounding scratchy and unhappy. He straightened again and took a deeper breath, this time through his open mouth. "Man, I'm sorry." There was a giggle at the end of that and he looked up to smile weakly at Porthos. "Embarrassing," he mumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Shut up," Athos grumbled and carded his fingers through Aramis's hair. He stopped when Aramis put a hand on his thigh and squeezed. That little gesture told him that Aramis was over the worst. He asked his love if he was alright and smiled at him in relief when Aramis nodded.

Porthos just shook his head. He'd seen adrenaline wear off in worse ways. On the other hand, he didn't know what to do with the intimacy between these two. All he knew was that he thought they were beautiful together and that it gave him an odd pain in his chest to see them so in love. Should he say something to show that he approved? Should he ignore it for now until they said something? Brushing aside the kiss and the quiet, calming hushing that Athos was doing seemed to be the best course of action. "You should see me watching _Up_ ," he said off-handedly, because he didn't want Aramis to be embarrassed. "The Pixar movie with the balloon house," he clarified.

Athos snorted, the corners of his mouth twitching. Porthos felt like he had caught Athos admitting something, even if he didn't say anything out loud. _'You, too_ ,' he thought. Athos shifted then and pulled Aramis with him. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Porthos leaned down and reached out for Aramis to grab his hand. Aramis looked up. "Uh." He held out his left arm and winced when Porthos pulled him up. "I smashed my shoulder into the window," he explained and tried to pull the arm up. "And my head. It felt real slow, while we were being tipped over." He sounded confused, like what he had thought had happened didn't quite match up with what had actually happened. Porthos had seen it and there had been nothing slow about it.

Aramis turned to Athos once he was standing on unsteady feet. "Are you okay? You got like… folded like a switchknife."

Athos was right behind him, equally unsure of his footing. "Yeah. I held onto the bars and tried to brace with my legs when we tipped over. It just jerked me back." He patted his shoulder. "It doesn't hurt like anything's wrong, though. Just pulled." Athos shook his legs out and stretched his back. "I'm driving," Porthos mumbled as Athos went ahead, still shaking his legs out as he walked. Porthos's eyes were automatically drawn to that tight ass and those sturdy legs and he shook his head. Where was his mind today?

"Please do," Aramis grumbled, passing him before he stumbled against Athos on purpose, shoving him playfully towards the car with his good arm. He turned around and grinned at Porthos conspiratorially. "Captain Speedy here has just lost the right to."

"Ha ha," Athos returned flatly and said something that Porthos couldn't make out as he reached out and pulled Aramis in a half-headlock. They were in sight of the other car again, so their banter became friendly and raucous again, rather than the intimate teasing Porthos had witnessed earlier. Austin had rolled his window down to tell them how glad he was they were okay.

"Alright," Porthos huffed once everyone was seated. Athos and Aramis were sitting in the backseat, the cooler between them now. "Let's get this shit show on the road again."

"No more accidents," Aramis piped up from the backseat. "Ugh, I think this smells through the cracks," he complained about the cooler. He let out a harsh breath and a pretend-"Ouch!" after a dull thud that told Porthos that Athos had socked him for complaining. The upside of this second accident was that Aramis was chatty again. It felt like a valve had released some tension in him. The small, hysterical cry he'd had earlier had rushed all of the quiet out of him. _Good_ , Porthos thought. Next to him, Austin was fiddling with the satellite phone. It was a fancy Masrani one that was supposed to work anywhere. Sometimes it didn't even cover the distance from one building to the next, much to everyone's disappointment.

"I've been trying to get through to Grady," he explained when Porthos shot him a look. Apparently he had had no success until now. When the phone crackled, he quickly lifted it to his hear. "Grady? Hold on, I'll put this thing on speaker."

"Austin? You guys alright?"

"Porthos and Athos came and got me and Arms out," Austin said, voice breaking because that shot sentence drove home just how many people were left of the ACU teams that had been sent out. From the backseat, he heard Athos snort at the shortening of Aramis's name and repeat it. A tussle broke out and Porthos had to concentrate on what Austin had to say. He looked over and nodded at the backseat – meaning the cooler – with his chin. "Listen, Porthos wants you to know we've got the piece of the Indominus. We're driving back now."

"Great. Sorry about the others. I saw what happened," Owen said. "I'm out in Zone 5 looking for Claire's nephews with her. We're all operating on a Phase One Real World. Everything north of the gate is closed. Rangers are looking for stragglers in the valley. There are still some canoes and kayaks out, from what I heard."

Porthos shot Athos a look through the rearview mirror and then a longer look at the cooler. Then he spoke up, leaning in towards the phone. "Listen, Grady, we'll drop Austin off at the First Aid Station then we'll take the Indominus piece to ours. I don't want to take it to the Creation Lab in case we never see it again once Wu gets his hands on it."

"Hey, yeah. Good thinking. Barry should be up there." Grady spoke to someone on the other end before, muttering. Then he turned back to them. "Listen, Claire and I are almost at the valley. We gotta go."

"Alright. Talk to you later. Keep us updated," he said, reminding Grady that he could ask for help if he needed it.

Once the conversation was over, Austin took the phone back, but then slumped against the window with a cough as if that grab had taken too much effort. Sweating and pale he didn't look well.

Suddenly, Aramis piped up from the backseat. "To ours?"

"The smaller animal paddocks," Porthos explained, unsure of where this was going. "You know where I work."

Aramis didn't say anything, but he heard a loud exhale of breath behind him. Austin chuckled weakly and explained the question and his colleague's reaction to Porthos. "It's the raptors. He probably hoped you'd say we wouldn't have to go there."

"Oh." That made sense. Porthos himself didn't work with the raptors, but the animal paddocks were all close by, even though that was sometimes impractical. They had had a few meetings already about moving some of the animal paddocks further away from each other because many dinosaurs had an acute sense of smell. That meant that the smell of the carnivores scared the smaller herbivores and the smell of helpless, tasty herby haunch sometimes made the raptors go crazy.

Athos leaned in, clearly working up to something. "So… Aramis told me about you. He said you're a dog handler?"

Porthos glanced at the rearview mirror, catching Aramis's encouraging nod. That dimpled smile was something else. He set his eyes firmly on the road again and explained. "Yeah. I'm a MOS 5811? Or rather, was. My dad was in the K-9 unit with the NYPD so I grew up around working dogs. And eventually I just went that way, too… you know, combat training, then MP training, and then dog handler training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. And then two tours in the sandbox." He was afraid that was too much information already, but Athos was paying attention, looking curious and interested. Usually, people asked about the excitement of bomb sniffing dogs, but he guessed someone who had been there himself didn't need to ask for grisly details of IEDs.

Athos was apparently more than satisfied because he hummed and sat back. Porthos heard the smile in his voice when he continued. "Aramis has been trying to get me to come to the petting zoo to meet you for ages," he said then, making Porthos catch his eyes again. "I should've come before today." Porthos didn't know how to take that statement. It was an oddly phrased regret. Why would Athos say that? He couldn't make any sense of it. Thankfully driving into the compound took more concentration so he had something to distract him. They drove through the manned gate and past the backs of the buildings of the park itself.

Aramis snorted and muttered quietly, "I told you." Turning to Porthos, he said, "I told him. That you showed me how to pet them and everything. I think he was worried I might try to sneak one home." Porthos parked the car behind the First Aid Station with a snort. When the car halted, Aramis jumped out and opened the door for Austin.

Athos groaned as he got out as well and Porthos followed suit. "The garrison does not allow free-roaming pet herbies. I have a reputation to uphold, too," he called out over the roof of the car at Aramis. Porthos rang the doorbell of the First Aid Station – the back was locked from the inside so people couldn't sneak from the front of the park to the back of it.

"Schmeputation," Aramis protested behind him as he hissed under Austin's weight. By the time the door opened, Aramis and Athos had helped Austin to the door and took him inside. The nurse on duty was a short, stern woman they had all seen at one point or another before. Porthos thought she was like the life-sized embodiment of the saying 'tough on the outside, soft on the inside.' Mary, he remembered now.

As she held the door open until they had come through, she told them the news she had. "There's a Phase One Real World in place – I assume you're one casualty behind that?" she asked Austin, as she calmly took him to a seat and moved around him to set up his examination. Austin grumbled, "Fucking Hoskins, man," at her, much to Porthos's amusement.

The others were left standing, wondering what to do next. "We should go," Athos said when Mary started unbuttoning Austin's shirt with a concerned look. Porthos thought she was hiding it well, but they all garnered from her reaction that whatever had happened to Austin wasn't nothing.

"Yeah, some things you can never unsee," Aramis joked for Austin's benefit, eliciting a weak "Fuck you," and a raised middle finger from the ACU team leader.

"Fix his humor, while you're at it," Athos said to add some salt of his own. "And do something about those buck teeth."

Porthos rolled his eyes and smiled at the nurse when she turned on them and made a shooing motion at the three of them, ushering them towards the door they'd come in through. "Get out of here. Go make yourselves useful."

Grinning, Athos shoved Aramis towards the door and Porthos followed them. Now that Austin was taken care of, they could deliver the cooler to the animal caretakers' offices and then see if the Rangers needed any help with rounding up guests in the valley.

"Do you have a first aid kit?" Mary asked before Porthos had cleared the door. He turned around and gave her a reassuring nod.

"Yeah," he replied. "There's a big one in the car. We're alright. Thank you."

"Take care," she admonished them, trying hard to pretend that their injuries were inconveniencing her when it was clear that she worried, and closed the door behind him. He went back to the driver's side of the car and strapped in, checking with Athos, who had claimed the passenger seat. "Now, let's take the cooler up and see if we can do anything to help?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's." Athos seemed happy enough with the suggestion. Porthos turned the car around and drove towards the raptor paddocks.

They were just around the bend when Aramis suddenly moved in the backseat, catching their eyes. "What's up?" Athos asked and glanced in the side mirror. "Oh," he mumbled then and turned around. "What the hell is that?"

Porthos, having checked his mirrors, saw the cause for their concern at the same time. He slowed down and turned the car around. "Shit. Are those the pterosaurs?"

Athos rolled down his window, brought his rifle up and looked through the scope. The casual movement took Porthos back to Iraq for a moment, to the endless hours driving around in the Humvees, everyone with their rifles out the window, spotting and examining every plastic bag and earth mound and trash heap and tree along the road. He could picture Athos there, doing the same thing he was doing now.

"Yeah. Shit, for that many to have gotten out the aviary must have… I don't know, collapsed? I didn't think that could happen." He kept his eyes on the swarm in the sky. The flying pterosaurs were too far away and too high to pose any danger to them, but judging by the direction they were flying, the visitors wouldn't be so lucky. The pteranodons and the dimorphodons ate anything that was small enough and the visitors and the small herbivores in the petting zoo and the riding area would be easy prey for them.

Porthos shook his head. He knew something about the structure and couldn't imagine what would have to happen for that dome to collapse. He stepped on the gas and took them towards the animal paddocks faster.

"Wild," Aramis mumbled. "So, that Code 19 was the Indominus, right? Does that mean it went from the ambush site to the aviary?" He huffed after a moment, turning around again. "Man, what the hell is it with today."

Athos shrugged. "Right now I'm less worried about that one Indominus and a lot more worried about the thousand flying threats moving towards the park." He reached for the satellite phone to call it in. He reached the control room.

"Control Room, Cruthers speaking."

Athos very obviously stopped himself from sighing, which Porthos found nice. He had the distinct feeling that Athos and exasperation went hand in hand. The man was bright, direct, and fast-thinking, but didn't have the patience or will to make small talk. Porthos could see where his reputation came from – the awe and the respect he inspired. Aramis leaned forward from the backseat to listen in, quite obviously delighted.

"Cruthers, it's de la Fère. Can you confirm for us that the pterosaurs escaped? They're on their way to the park and it looks like it's the lot of them."

"Commander!" Cruthers's voice was more of a surprised whisper than the usual exuberance Porthos had expected from the man in the control room. He wasn't sure he'd gotten the rank right, but that was the least of their problems. Porthos and Cruthers rarely interacted, but he knew the chatty technician from seeing him around the compound. What fascinated Porthos the most about him was that he liked dinosaurs, which was rare among the people working here, even though all of their jobs centered on them. "Yes, that's confirmed," Cruthers continued. There was some rustling and it sounded like Cruthers was speaking as he was walking. "Listen, InGen's Private Security is in charge now. Masrani died in a helicopter crash at the aviary, that's why all the pterosaurs got out. Hoskins took over the park and he's scarily gleeful about it."

Athos frowned at Porthos and told Cruthers, "We haven't gotten any orders." Porthos didn't mind. He wasn't sure he wanted to get orders from Hoskins. The guy reminded him of an incompetent general who had once sent them into a suspected Taliban stronghold without any ass or air support. Porthos hadn't seen him again after that but he'd heard he'd been promoted after he'd gotten three guys killed in a raid somewhere.

"He might have conveniently forgotten you or thinks you're working on Phase Two. After that fuck up with the Indominus earlier, he's handling everything else through the 'Private' arm of the InGen Security force." He was quiet for a bit before he continued. "Which might be better anyway. These guys are weird. Like private security weird."

'Blackwater weird' was what Porthos heard. Shit. He tuned the conversation out and drove into the compound that the animal paddocks were a part of. Someone at the gate let them in and he stopped the car at the entrance to the complex that housed the offices. Behind him, Aramis got out and he followed suit, leaving Athos in the car to finish his chat with Lowery Cruthers. Outside the car, the air was hot and humid again. The smells from the animal paddocks were heavy. The small herbivores were sensitive to the moods of their handlers. With the Code 19 going on, everyone was tense, more so now that there was a Phase Two in effect. He heard the baying of the small riding animals, the paddock closest to the jungle.

Aramis grunted as he pulled at the cooler. "Uh, help. I can only use the one arm. It got stiff on the ride," he apologized and waited until Porthos came to help. He smiled up at him, awkwardly moving with Porthos, but not letting go.

"You know, the cooler's not heavy," Porthos said then and motioned with his free hand to get the second handle.

"I want to feel useful," Aramis protested, but let Porthos have the second handle. He was content to follow Porthos and slammed the car door shut. "Cruthers has a total crush on Athos," he said quietly and conspiratorially as he peeked in through the driver's side window of the car, showing two exaggerated thumbs up to his partner. Porthos could see the man's reaction through the windshield: a raised middle finger combined with a soft smile and a shake of his head.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, momentarily distracted by the dimples hidden in that scruffy beard.

"He does! I think I heard him sigh behind Athos's back once."

Porthos snorted. "Cruthers is madly in love with Vivian, though."

Aramis didn't appear to be surprised by that. "She's got someone, though. She often sneaks out the back of the control room and curses at her phone for the shitty connection she gets there." He didn't explain how he knew that but followed Porthos into the building, slowing down behind him to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Porthos knew the way by heart so he just tromped ahead. He took the cooler to his office and plugged it in. As the vent started whirring, he turned around to find Aramis in the doorway, looking around the office. He stayed quiet, but stepped inside to better look around. He beamed at the wall of pictures of Porthos and his colleagues with the little petting zoo dinosaurs.

"Those are so cute!" Aramis cooed and Porthos rolled his eyes. He couldn't exactly make an offhand comment because he liked those pictures, too. He knew these animals' names, he knew their habits, he knew where they liked to be petted and scratched. He enjoyed working with them.

They were interrupted soon by Athos's voice coming from the entrance. "I've got a job for us! Aramis, Porthos?" His voice sounded loud in the hallway.

Aramis poked his head out the door and waved. "Coming! Porthos was just showing me his stamp collection." He threw a sly smile back at Porthos.

"Oh, is that right?" Athos asked. "Can't leave you alone for a second."

Porthos had no tools to interpret that tone of voice – was it teasing? It certainly didn't sound angry or like a reprimand. These two were a mystery to him, each in his own way. He knew Aramis had seen some shit, but he was still one of the sweetest people Porthos had ever met. They'd known each other for a few years now, but they had never felt as close as they did today. Aramis was usually more reserved than this, almost as if he didn't want to get too close to become friends, even with him. Athos had a reputation as having little but cool contempt for anyone other than himself, but from what Porthos had seen today, he was warm and funny; the exact opposite of what he'd heard. Porthos liked them both, for different reasons. He had to remind himself of the looks they gave each other, of the signs that they were more to each other than just comrades in arms. They were not for him to like, as hard as it was to admit that.

"Maybe you'll show me that collection, too, sometime," Athos muttered then and winked, making Porthos's chest feel tight. They were flirting with him like it was normal, like they knew him, like they could see that he wanted them both. He found himself wondering where they were going with this.

"Well, if you're nice, I'll invite you up for a cup of coffee later," he returned the volley, making sure to look at both of them. 'Nice,' he thought - as if any of them were nice. He just wanted to see what they would make of it. Aramis looked elated by his reaction, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the excited smile he was shooting him.

"Later," Aramis said, making it sound like a promise.

"What's the plan now?" Porthos asked because the day wasn't over yet. There was a Phase Two evacuation going on and they had no direct orders. Of course, during an evacuation, all personnel had the same basic job, which was rounding up guests and herding them towards the evacuation area. The park had never been evacuated before, and in all training scenarios they had been given specific tasks. Right now, Porthos drew a blank on where the three of them would be the most helpful. He wasn't needed here, Aramis wasn't needed with the ACU, and Athos wasn't… well, Porthos did not actually know what Athos's job was.

Thankfully, the highest-ranking member of their quirky, little threesome had a plan. "Cruthers says it's best to keep out of Hoskins' way. He's holding up the fort and will let us know when shit goes down." Athos sighed. "He says the Rangers' capacities are maxed out rescuing people in the valley. They're driving them back now and from what he can tell, they're still missing a canoe. A couple that wasn't on the scheduled path. They checked out a canoe for two and apparently no one's seen them with the people that got picked up."

"Sounds like a job for us," Porthos said. "You guys in?"

"Definitely."


	3. Three

 

It was quite a drive from the animal paddocks to the Jungle River and the canoe path. They took the southern route, between the restricted area and the park, trying to figure out a way to get there fast and without incidents. They got intermittent transmissions from the control room letting them know that the guests were still being evacuated. The pterosaurs had already killed some people and the ACU down at the park were working on shooting the pteranodons and the dimorphodons down. The Rangers in the valley were taking the first batch of people down south now. Aramis was itching to help the snipers, but at the same time he knew that with his shoulder hurting like it did, he wouldn't be able to do much. Athos had magically appeared a pair of binoculars into his hands so he could watch the sky. It helped some with his anxiety and feeling of helplessness. He didn't like being incapacitated.

The three of them crossed paths with the convoy of rescue vehicles half an hour into the drive – frightened tourists staring at the one single vehicle that drove in the perceived 'wrong' direction. Eyes widened at the display of rifles, only now realizing that the evacuation of the island was serious. The Park Ranger driving the vehicle just flapped his hand on the steering wheel at them, looking exhausted.

"Sunset is just before six," Aramis said then, noting for the first time how late it was. "That doesn't give us a lot of time."

"If we don't find these people before it gets dark, it might be better to stay the night in a storm shelter rather than drive back in the dark." Porthos knew these roads the best and if he wasn't keen on driving around in the dark, they would not make him.

Athos reached into the glove box and pulled out the map of the park. He consulted it for a while. "The Jungle River station has one, where the canoes are let into the water." Aramis leaned forward, pushing his chin into Athos's shoulder, happy for the contact. He hummed quietly, checking the map for the dinosaur names that were around the Jungle River. All herbivores, of course. Athos pointed at the attraction entrance for his benefit and he nodded.

Aramis wasn't happy about the prospect of spending a night in a storm shelter. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he piped up and slumped back into his seat. He watched the sky, turning around to look out the back window in the direction of the park. He could make out spots of dark in the sky far away, diving down and swiping up again. They were circling the main area of the park. Every few seconds, however, one dropped heavily out of the sky. The shooters were doing their jobs.

Eventually, Porthos slowed the car down and came to a halt. "Alright, this is it," he said. "The entrance is just up ahead. The canoes all come down this path along the river. We can't follow the trail with the car, though."

Porthos parked the car close to the entrance and killed the engine. Aramis looked out of the window. Like every attraction at Jurassic World, this was not just the entrance to the Jungle River Adventure but also had a gift shop attached. And because this was in the middle of the nature park, it was also a Ranger Station with a storm shelter. "Let's check the bunker before we head out. Maybe they already holed up in there when they saw that people got evacuated," Porthos said and opened his door. He got out first and Aramis took the moment that Athos was still with one leg in the car to clamp a hand down on his lover's shoulder. "I love you. Today sucks," he murmured quietly.

"I know. I love you," Athos returned. He tilted his head until his bearded cheek was rubbing against Aramis's fingers. "We'll get out of here soon, alright? Out out."

"Yeah," Aramis agreed. Things would be better this time. He couldn't think about the stuff that had happened before they joined InGen Security – not right now. They had other problems at the moment. "Let's go. The sooner we find these people, the sooner we can grab a helo back to Puerto Rico."

Athos turned around to face Aramis and grinned. "Soon." The smile made Aramis's stomach flip flop. "Get out of here. That look is dangerous," he grumbled. He knew Athos had no idea what it was about his smile that Aramis found so fascinating, but he was hyperaware of the effect it had.

"René. We should talk about Porthos at some point."

Yes, they should, Aramis agreed. "I know."

"I just worry," Athos pressed on, apparently not so quick to let this go, despite their location and their situation. "But that… won't happen again. We won't let it happen again."

"I know," Aramis repeated. "Ol, _I know_." The last time the two of them had tried to add a third to their relationship, it had gone spectacularly wrong. It had been the reason they had moved to Isla Nublar in the first place, to put the focus on them again, to repair and mend and to get away from people. It had worked – only, it looked like Cupid had found them again. He shook his head and smiled at Athos because his lover wasn't getting it. Aramis knew that what had happened would never happen again. "I'm not worried." That was the thing. Aramis was fine entering another polyamorous relationship. He wanted to take a chance. Athos was the one who was afraid now.

"Guys? The storm shelter is clear," Porthos called out as he came closer. "No one's here, but we could spend the night. I also lit a light into the gift shop. Looks clear, too."

"Alright. Thanks for… looking," Athos said and even though Aramis couldn't see his face, he sounded apologetic. ' _Thanks for giving us a moment_ ,' was what Aramis heard.

"No problem," Porthos replied with a nod. He beamed at Athos. God, he was cute. Aramis sighed and got out of the car.

"Let's go to the other side. If they were on this side, the Rangers would have found them, wouldn't they?" Athos asked. He was technically in charge, but he always made sure to include everyone. Aramis quickly agreed with an affirmative – he trusted in Athos his commanding officer as much as he trusted Athos as his partner.

Porthos grumbled, "But what kind of crazies get out of the canoe in Jurassic World?"

"Crazies on drugs," Aramis suggested. "Or hippies. Maybe they thought they could do a… what was that one guy's name who went camping and died in the wilderness in Canada, a few miles from a highway?"

Athos and Porthos just looked at him.

"I swear that happened. Or! Maybe these two wanted to feel like real Christian Neanderthals and wanted to live with God and the dinosaurs."

Porthos snorted.

Athos just stared at him. "Is that how Creationism works?"

"Yeah, man. You should've seen my drawings when I was little. I found some when I cleared out my mom's place. People riding dinosaurs and shit." Aramis had forgotten that at some point people had tried to sell him that. Then he realized that Porthos had to feel pretty left out of the conversation right about now, so he patted himself down and stood by the other. "It's not an interesting story," he told Porthos, looking up at him. "I'll tell you some other time."

Athos stepped up to them. "Yeah. Let's," he suggested, hinting at the road with his chin. He made sure Porthos didn't feel slighted, though, because he kept his body language open. Aramis appreciated his attempts at putting Porthos at ease with the two of them.

"You two," Porthos began but trailed off. "You have no idea…" He sighed at Aramis and patted him on the shoulder, catching himself. "Alright, let's go."

Athos automatically fell in behind Porthos when he started to move, giving him a few paces of space. Aramis followed them. They crossed the river at the attraction entrance where a little bridge led from the jetty across the river. It was mainly used by proud parents to take pictures of their offspring as they got in the canoes and occasionally, during the main season to get more people on the river on the other side. Now it was deserted. The jungle began on the other side, looking dark and menacing, although Aramis suspected that was mainly because they were in a state of emergency. He was glad for it because it made him more alert. They started walking downstream, following a small trail that the Rangers used when fishing plastic bottles out from between the branches and roots along river. Tourists were litterers, even in this park.

Aramis groaned internally barely ten minutes into their walk. He'd been on a training mission for the past week doing nothing but hike through the jungle with the new guys. He'd thought that would be it for a few months, but no, barely one day back and he was doing the same thing all over again. His shoulder hurt, too. Looking for some morons who'd gotten lost on a canoe trip. What the hell was he even doing here.

"You're stomping," Athos grumbled in front of him.

"Well, I'm annoyed," Aramis shot back, not really angry, just frustrated. A moment later, he felt awful for taking that out on Athos. "I'm sorry."

He looked at the space between Athos's shoulder blades, where the material bunched and stretched between those impressive muscles. He was just about to apologize again or step closer, when Athos turned around and smiled at him as if to say, ' _I know. I get it. It's okay_.' A whoosh of breath left Aramis's lungs.

They continued in silence. They crossed paths with some large dinosaurs but the two groups kept their distances from each other, so no one felt threatened. Encounters like that one made this place so special. These creatures were majestic and fascinating to look at and even though their jobs pretty much demanded of them to be frosty about them, no one could look at these prehistoric giants and not feel awed.

They trudged through the underbrush, occasionally following the path that led down the river, until at some point, Porthos called for a stop. "There are canoe tracks on the sandbank here," he called out under his breath.

Athos and Aramis caught up, coming up beside their tracker colleague. Aramis put a hand on Porthos's arm as he leaned forward, realizing only after Porthos shifted that he was doing it. "That looks like it was done on purpose," Athos grumbled and turned to cast a look at the jungle. Aramis saw footsteps digging into the sand and the broad track of a canoe. Porthos bent down and examined a tree stump. "Yeah, they tied it up here. There are marks in the bark."

"Someone pulled the canoe up, but they pushed it back into the water?" Athos asked Porthos to confirm what they were all thinking. "Can you see where they went or at least if they came back?"

"Meaning they've already gone down to where they're supposed to be?" Aramis added, angry that they had wasted hours on a wild goose chase.

"Ask," Athos encouraged Porthos. "If they've already popped up down there." He looked at his watch and sighed. They would probably make it back to the Ranger Station before it got dark, but no further.

"Radio's not working here." Porthos huffed. "Give me a moment," he said then and crouched down before following the footprints leading away from the canoe. He treaded into the underbrush and was apparently fine to go by himself, but Athos followed him anyway. Aramis decided to let them have a moment and stayed behind. He brought his rifle up and crouched down on one knee in a defensive position, putting his eye to the scope to see if he could maybe make out any movement downriver. Nothing.

He kept his eyes open until he heard steps behind him. "They came back," Athos explained. "Porthos says they went to the cliff and then turned back."

Porthos came out a moment later, swatting his neck. "I hate the swamp," he grumbled. "Alright, let's head back." He kept the phone in his hand and turned around, probably expecting Athos to lead the way back. He was disappointed, though when Athos stayed rooted where he was, waiting for Porthos to start walking.

"No, no, it's fine," Athos said, sharing a smile with Aramis. He waved his hand as if to invite Porthos to go ahead.

"Yeah, it's _fine_ if you take the lead, Porthos," Aramis said with an eager nod, grinning at the tall man. He was afraid he and Athos were taking this too lightly, a point only proven by the confused look on Porthos's face.

The poor guy just looked between the two, until he caught Aramis's exaggerated look at his butt. Then he rolled his eyes. "I don't know what to do with you two," he told them. Aramis pressed his lips together. This was the moment they would have to explain. The air was humid and heavy, not tense, but there was something in the air. It was important that they said the right things now.

Athos got serious for a moment. "You know about us?" he said, turning the statement into a question. "Well, we're…" He looked at Aramis for help.

"Open for expansion?" Aramis tried his best to sell their point. He'd almost wanted to say 'adventurous' but that sounded like they just wanted to have a threesome. No, he had been crushing on Porthos for a while now and he'd told Athos about it and tried to get them to meet for months now. They were not interested in one night. They wanted to see if Porthos was that missing puzzle piece. The third third of their orange, _el tercero tercio de sus naranja_.

Athos thought it was an excellent way to describe it because he nodded. "It's not how it usually works. And to be honest, it hasn't worked for us the last time we… took a chance, but it's not stopping us from being willing to give it another try. If you're interested in getting to know us better."

Porthos didn't say anything for a moment. Aramis hung his head and looked away. They hadn't even tried yet and it was already falling apart.

"That's a big thing. Let me think about it," Porthos suddenly said and turned around. "We better head back."

Aramis shared an unsure shrug with Athos before they followed the tracker. What Athos had told Porthos was true. They had given a polyamorous relationship a try before, back when they had just moved to New York. Athos had gotten out of the Marines before Aramis's tour was done and he'd gotten them an apartment. A lovely place whose price he never told Aramis. They had been talking about finding a place together and one day, during one of their Skype calls, Athos had simply said 'I got us a place. I think you'll love it.' Aramis had blanched, worried that he wouldn't be able to afford half of the rent, but Athos had simply shaken his head and told him he 'got it' as in 'bought it.' Of course, in their relationship, money had come up and that Athos's family was wealthy, but this was the first time Athos ever showed that. It hadn't changed anything and hardly ever talked about it anymore.

By the time Aramis had gotten out and moved his bags in, Athos had told him about a guy he'd met. Someone they could give a try. They met up a few times, dated, the three of them, and it had seemed to be working out. Only, in retrospect, Athos and Aramis knew that they should have taken more time to get to know each other again before inviting a third into their relationship. They had been apart for such a long time that they hadn't noticed that David had only been interested in Athos and even more interested in driving a wedge between them to lure Athos away from his relationship with Aramis. The whole thing had barely lasted two months. After getting out, Aramis had had so much on his mind that he hadn't even noticed at first. He had been interested in David and had been looking forward to getting to know him better, but he was still re-learning how to behave in the civilian world and looking for work, that it hadn't even come to that.

He only remembered that one night he'd already been in bed – that whole week leading up to that night was still a blur, even years later – when Athos and David had come home. And the next morning, he woke up to just Athos telling him that they wouldn't pursue this any further. Aramis had been surprised, but ultimately, he had never gotten to know David well enough to give his heart away. They had gone to couples counseling a few times after that, a suggestion made by one of Athos's friends, and had talked about everything.

Neither of them had realized David's plan for them, but in hindsight, with a therapist prodding them in the right direction, they had seen what had happened with more clarity. Aramis had learned that Athos had felt like Aramis hadn't been fully back and had wanted to give him space. Only David had taken that as a chance to situate himself more firmly in Athos's life. Aramis on the other hand, had been overwhelmed by returning to a home that was perfect, but that he felt he had had no hand in making. There had been too much going on and he had been tired and exhausted all the time. They had recognized a depression with the therapist's help and Aramis knew he would never forget the look on Athos's face that day on the couch, when he thought he had neglected the most important person in his life.

They had come out of the experience stronger. Therapy had helped them talk to each other, to notice hurdles and weaknesses, and also to acknowledge their strengths. They both knew they were soulmates and nothing and no one would come between them ever again. That did not mean that they wouldn't try again to expand their relationship with the right person.

A few months later they were already on their way to Isla Nublar and sometime later, Aramis stumbled upon Porthos for the first time, a dog handler, a kind soul, someone who was stable and liked to laugh. Porthos, Aramis felt, would provide that calm positivity and cheerfulness that Athos needed sometimes and that Aramis with his more exuberant joyfulness often felt he couldn't give him. And Porthos laughed and was more open about his feelings, something Aramis responded to, that Athos had mentioned he felt like he was keeping Aramis from. Therapy had confirmed for them that they would keep looking. Their experience with David meant that this time, Aramis would take the first step. Athos had been burned last time, thinking he had found someone for them, so he was reluctant to be the one instigating things.

Aramis had tried not to be pushy when it came to making Athos and Porthos meet. He had suggested to Athos he should come to the animal paddocks with him a few times, but he had also wanted to give Athos space. He had kept some distance from Porthos as well. He felt guilty for being happy to see these two talk to each other. They had lost a dozen friends and colleagues today and he knew he would have nightmares about what he had seen, but he had learned a long time ago that if you were in the shit, you had to cling to the positive moments or you'd drown in the horror.

So while he mourned Hamada and Craig, Lee and Miller, Spears and Meyers, and the other members of the ACU, he was walking behind Athos feeling a little lighter. He'd seen the interested spark in Athos earlier. The two of them were comfortable with each other, used to each other's humor, and they knew each other's sweet spots and buttons. They were best friends and never doubted each other. So when Aramis saw that interested spark in Athos, the flirting that was slowly warming up, and the 'is he for real?' looks shot at him, he was elated. Athos _liked_ Porthos.

They hiked back in silence, but occasionally Porthos would stop to test the satellite phone. Eventually, once they were not far from their destination, it finally crackled to life. They immediately huddled around it while Porthos called Dispatch. After a few rings, he was sent through to the control room.

"Cruthers," the voice on the other end said.

"Lowery, what's going on?"

"Vallon!" Cruthers exclaimed. "Listen, things are going crazy over here. Hoskins and Grady have gone off to test the raptors. He's taking his private security team with him to track down the Indominus with the raptors."

The three of them were quiet, shocked into silence. Hoskins wanted to release the raptors. Was he insane?

"And Grady agreed to this?" Athos asked.

"Yeah. From what I gathered, it wasn't really a choice. It was either with or without him and he…"

"He thinks he's got a responsibility," Athos concluded, interrupting. Athos also always felt he had a responsibility – to his parents, to his lover, to his company, to the other team leaders. Aramis always worried about him because he shouldered so much.

"Yeah." Cruthers sounded relieved, as if that was what he had been thinking but hadn't wanted to voice. "Oh, and they found those two kids. The couple you were looking for. The Rangers told me that was what you're doing? I couldn't get through to you. They found them. Apparently the guy wanted to make the most romantic proposal ever, overlooking the valley."

Aramis almost let out an 'aww,' because he thought that was sweet – idiotic, but sweet in a way. "Did she say yes, at least?" he asked Lowery, getting exasperated looks from Porthos and Athos both. He shrugged. "What? It's kinda cute. You have to admit."

"It's moronic!" Athos exclaimed. "This isn't some national park you can just waltz around in." Aramis rolled his eyes and wanted to say that they had just basically propositioned Porthos in almost the same spot. Athos could apparently read his mind because he rolled his eyes muttering, "It's not the same thing."

"She said yes," Cruthers said and Aramis shot Athos a triumphant look.

Porthos groaned. "Alright. We're heading back to the Ranger Station and the bunker. Are they evacuating all night?"

"No, they're stopping at sundown because it's too dangerous. There are still a lot of pterosaurs in the air. Next scheduled evacuation is tomorrow at…" Cruthers halted for a moment and got back to them after some searching. "Sunrise, that's at 7 a.m. And that's when the rest of InGen is pulling out as well. Evacuation Point Alpha."

"Seven might be too early. We need at least half an hour down there," Porthos pointed out.

"Well, that's the first one. You guys could pick me up here at the control room? Because I probably won't make it to that first one either."

They were all surprised to hear that. "You're staying?"

"Yeah, of course. There are still a lot of people here. We'll see how the hunt for Indominus goes. They're starting soon."

"They're going after her in the dark?" Porthos asked, eyes wide, forehead creased.

Cruthers made a vague humming noise on the other end. "It's the only way. They need another half hour to prepare and by then it'll be dark."

That took balls. Aramis didn't even like going near the raptors when they were in their paddock. He was glad they weren't being ordered to go with them when there were no bars between them and the InGen team.

They said their goodbyes and good lucks and told Cruthers they'd get an update later. After the call, they continued their march back to the shelter and reached it just after the sun had disappeared behind the mountains.

Exhausted, tired, and sweaty, they went in and took their vests off. The extra pounds of gear were stripped off quickly. Aramis set the rifle down by the door and made quick work of the snaps and Velcro holding the vest to his body. Underneath, everything was wet and sticky.

"Tell me there's water somewhere," he begged and looked around. Porthos disappeared behind some shelves and fetched a six pack, helpful and lovely person that he was. Aramis took them all, thinking he might actually need more than one bottle for the 'bath' he had planned outside.

"Thanks." Aramis muttered, "I'll be right back," before he went back outside. The sky was clear with only few clouds obstructing his view of the stars. He sighed and looked up, searching for Polaris and Ursa Minor below. He'd miss this night sky, but at the same time, there was nothing that could hold him on this island any longer.

He heard the metal door squeak behind him and turned around. "Hey," he said.

"You planning on using that?" Athos asked, gesturing at the bottles by his feet.

"In a moment."

"Looking at the sky?" Athos asked and wrapped his arms around Aramis from behind. Aramis leaned into him and nodded.

"One last time, if possible."

Athos snorted and there was a smile in his voice when he said, "Probably not. We still have all our stuff at the garrison."

"Let's take it with us. Let's pack before we leave, get out, never come back." There was an urgency he hadn't felt before. Right now, he felt like he couldn't get away soon enough. It was impractical and tomorrow he would feel better. He always felt better in the mornings. Night was never an ideal time for deep thoughts.

Athos nuzzled behind Aramis's ear. He felt the stubble against his neck and soft lips against his 'I love you' spot just behind his ear lobe.

"I love you," Athos mumbled then, obviously thinking the same thing. They stayed that way for a while, with Athos swaying them softly. Aramis sagged into him, finding Athos's fingers with his and intertwining them. "Are we sure?" Athos asked then. "I could fall for him. He's sweet."

Aramis smiled. The two men had only met today and under less than ideal circumstances, but Porthos was so easygoing that he sneaked into people's hearts quickly. Aramis was glad he had hit it off with Athos. "I want to give it a chance. I think you'd be lovely together." He added, emphasizing, "You'd be _good_ together."

"You two, though. Can you imagine?" Athos hummed salaciously as if he was picturing them already. Aramis quite liked the idea himself, even if right now was the wrong moment to think about it. "I like the way he looks at you," Athos murmured then, more quietly and more seriously. Aramis took that to mean that Porthos looked at him the way David never had. After that debacle, Athos had become oddly protective, maybe because he thought he had been remiss before. He'd pretty much 'vetted' Aramis's ACU team leader before Aramis had put a stop to it. After all, therapy had given them tools for how to talk to each other and they were determined to use them.

 "I didn't tell him much about you. I wanted you to meet him first. But he likes you."

Athos nodded and let Aramis go. He turned him around so they were facing each other and after looking for something only he could see in Aramis's eyes, he said, "Alright, I'm in. I want to give this a chance." _If you do. If he does_. Those two stipulations were unspoken.

Aramis beamed at his lover in return. "If he wants to leave the island as well," he added before he started to unbutton his shirt. He had to look down to get at the buttons and suddenly, for the first time, realized he still had blood all over him. The cuffs of his shirt had soaked some up, and there was still some under his nails, even after Porthos had cleaned his hands and face back at the car hours earlier. His breath hitched.

"Their blood is still on me," he whined, suddenly breathless. A weight dropped onto his chest.

"Let me get that," Athos offered and unbuttoned his cuffs and then the row of buttons on his shirt. Aramis let him manhandle him out of his shirt and undershirt until he stood shivering in the moonlight. His shoulder hurt after having it pulled out of the sleeves, but he kept his eyes on the top of Athos's head. He didn't dare look down, because he didn't want to know where else there could have been blood for the past couple of hours. Athos grabbed a water bottle, unscrewed the cap and wet his undershirt before taking the soaking rag to his arms. He started at his neck and went over his chest, reminding him of the mindful showers they sometimes took at home.

Behind him, Porthos came out of the bunker. "I went into the shop and got us some T-shirts and hoodies. Jurassic World Jungle River Adventure! Now that we've been down the river – on foot – I think we deserve some merch. They smell awfully like chemicals, but it's better than nothing." He shook out a black T-shirt with the Jurassic World logo on it and turned it around so Aramis could see the big letters saying Jungle River Adventure on the back. The hoodie was slung over his shoulder.

"Will you still like me even if I get a horrible rash from them?" Aramis asked, but his joke sounded lame even to him.

"I don't know yet. Depends on how bad it'll be," Porthos teased, taking the lame joke and running with it.

"Use this to dry off," he murmured, suddenly shy, handing him an equally garish Jungle River Adventure towel.

Athos plucked it out of Porthos's hands and started rubbing Aramis down, carefully rubbing over his shoulder. It was a new towel, so it didn't dry well, but it did the job eventually. "Does it hurt?"

"It's… dull throbbing?" Aramis said, trying to identify with words what exactly his shoulder was doing. Now that he was clean, he looked down and saw that his shoulder was a massive red bruise that looked like it was already slowly turning dark purple. "It hurts less than it looks like it should."

"Not a bad thing," Porthos argued.

Athos helped him into his T-shirt then and the hoodie. "There, now you look like a tourist." He brushed the hood from Aramis's head and tugged on the two strings lightly, as if he was a steward demonstrating the self-inflation mechanism on a life vest. Then he turned to Porthos. "Did you get him L on purpose? He looks like he's drowning."

"For comfort," Porthos mumbled defensively.

Aramis got it and was grateful for the consideration that had gone into choosing the size of the sweater. "It's perfect," he let Porthos know with a grateful squeeze to his elbow. "Good choice."

After Aramis was taken care of, Athos and Porthos both stripped down to wash, much to Aramis's approval. He tried not to be too obvious about watching, but couldn't really help noting that he had one extremely hot boyfriend and an equally hot, well-muscled potential future boyfriend. He didn't know where Porthos found the protein in the island's supermarket to get those muscles, but he approved. He knew Athos ordered them all sorts of stuff in the mail (organic! 100% hemp or pea or lupine protein), perhaps Porthos did the same. Or maybe he secretly barbecued a herbivore sometimes – dino steak. The thought led to the image of Porthos in a Fred Flintstone shirt gnawing on some pterosaur haunch. The thought was ridiculous and made him chuckle. Although after the day they'd had, he'd take any thought that made him smile.

Athos frowned at him, but didn't ask. "How's your arm?" Aramis asked then. "You said you pulled it. Is it alright?"

"I'll feel it for a few days, but I don't think it's anything serious." He struggled into the T-shirt and hoodie and sighed happily when he was done. He wasn't swimming in his hoodie as much as Aramis was, but he still looked ridiculously comfortable.

Glad that nothing too bad had resulted from that tumble, Aramis noted for the first time that it had gotten dark suddenly and quickly. Clouds had come up and the jungle was getting louder, too.

"Let's go inside," Porthos muttered. He picked up their clothes so the more attentive dinosaurs wouldn't follow the scent of blood.

"Hold on, does the gift shop have food?" Aramis asked and reached for the flashlight Athos had in his pocket. He tugged it out and went up the wooden ramp to see if he could find a vending machine. He had no money, but he wasn't above kicking in the glass if it got him food. He heard footsteps behind him and saw both Athos and Porthos follow him. The mention of food made them eager.

"There's probably a key somewhere," Athos guessed, but when he rattled the handles of the drawers, he cursed that they were all locked.

"It's an emergency," Aramis argued and wished he had the UZI pen on him that Athos had bought him for his birthday. It had a glass breaking tip, something he had never used and never thought he would ever find any use for, but here they were. "I don't have your pen on me," he told Athos.

"Well, I'm sure wherever it is, it's well-kept there," Athos said.

Aramis rolled his eyes. One point for Athos.

"That goes on the List, by the way," Athos threatened suddenly and quietly.

"The List?!"  Aramis didn't think he deserved that.

Porthos raised an eyebrow, questioning look moving from Aramis and his reaction to Athos for an explanation.

"It's…" Athos began, obviously not quite sure how to make that sound not ridiculous. He wouldn't manage, Aramis knew. He should have thought of that before bringing it up within earshot of their new friend. "The list of stuff he does without thinking. It's… just a concept. Like that one time he forgot to take the laundry out of the dryer and I looked like a scrunched up tissue in my uniform."

Aramis rolled his eyes, but conceded. There was no arguing with the list. It also never led anywhere. Sometimes, stuff just got put on that imaginary list that didn't formally exist anywhere, that wasn't officially kept or maintained and was never talked about unless he did something moronic without thinking that Athos felt smug about.

"Does Athos have a list as well?"

Aramis shook his head. "No. He's too clever for one, unfortunately. He's a strategist… a chess player." He could have said that driving too fast and carelessly this afternoon was list-worthy, but the list was never about anything serious. It was a joke between them and their friends and never about anything that actually hurt anyone.

"Well, either way, we need to get into that vending machine."

"I'll take responsibility," Athos said and looked around for something heavy to smash the glass with. Instead of something heavy, he found the plug in the back of the machine and unplugged it.

"In that case, let me," Porthos mumbled and got into position for a high kick. He smashed his boot against the glass, heel first, controlled and quick. The breaking of glass was loud in the room and they instinctively looked around if anyone had noticed even though they knew there was no one there.

"Very elegant," Aramis applauded him and reached out. "Gift bag, please," he asked like a surgeon, brimming with eagerness to get to the part where they got to eat all the stuff they were stealing.

"Gift bag," Athos repeated as he grabbed one from behind the counter and held it open. Aramis filled it with everything the machine had to offer. None of the rows were full, but there were enough sandwiches, chips packages, sweets, and nut mixes to feed the three of them. Aramis could easily justify taking all of the stuff with them. It would spoil without the electricity that Athos had so conveniently switched off. Who was going to buy a half-melted Snickers bar? It would take forever for the park to reopen and by then the sandwiches would have gone bad three times over.

"Anything else?" Porthos asked while they were at it. "Towels for blankets and pillow rolls?"

"Commendable initiative," Aramis praised playfully.

Athos boxed him for mocking Porthos. "Take whatever will make this night more comfortable. Right now, I don't give a crap about the lawyers coming after us for snacks and clothes."

Porthos grabbed some stuff behind Aramis and disappeared through the door. "And we're done, too," Aramis concluded when there was nothing left in the machine. The bag looked heavy and Athos grabbed it by the bottom to make sure it wouldn't rip. "Done and done," Athos said with a satisfied nod. "Grab a key chain," he said then, imperatively.

"A key chain?" Aramis asked as he did as he was told. He found a nice one and put it in his pocket.

"Yeah," Athos smirked. "If this works out, we want something to remember this day by."

Aramis stilled. This day. Only, today them talking to Porthos wasn't the only thing that had happened. He pulled the key chain out of his pocket and looked at Athos, whose smirk had dropped as quickly as the idea had come.

"I'm an idiot," Athos said then. "Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't." He fell quiet, realizing what he'd just said in jest. Aramis just bent down, breathing through the memory of the sound Spears's spine had made when the Indominus had smashed him into a tree.

"Guys?" Porthos asked from the door, probably wondering what was going on. Aramis was still working on finding his breath again.

"We're having a breakdown," Athos said. "Take him with us."

Moments later, a broad hand was rubbing down his back, tugging him into Porthos's strong, broad chest. "Today sucks. We all lost a lot of friends today. Athos knows that. Athos has lost a lot of friends too, today."

"I know." Aramis's voice was muffled by the hoodie he was talking into. He thought it was nice that Porthos was defending Athos. That was what made him such a good fit for them. And maybe Aramis should take the opportunity to tell Porthos something about his potential future boyfriend. "You need to know that Athos feels a lot more emotions than he shows. I do shit without thinking that goes on his list, you know? But he sometimes says stuff that makes him sound like he doesn't care. But he does. He cares a lot. It's just his brain sometimes boxes stuff up." Compartmentalizing was what the therapist had called it. It was a self-defense mechanism for when Athos had to think and feel at the same time. When he had to strategize and ignore that he was sending people he knew into danger, or like today, when something horrible and something wonderful happened. It was easier to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

"Well, then let's go and eat and you tell him that." Porthos pulled him along and they followed Athos.

Aramis let himself be pulled along and took a few steps down into the bunker while Porthos locked them in so no carnivore could get at them. Athos was at the table, unpacking the gift bag. He was moving quickly, organizing things into categories.

"I love you. You and your brain. And I love that you know you can say that to me and know that I won't think badly of you," he rushed out. "I just needed a moment. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break like that."

Athos shook his head and dropped everything to pull him into a hug. "I didn't think. There is nothing you have to apologize for."

Just to distract his lover's brain, Aramis whispered, "You too."

"Neither," Athos sighed. Aramis felt triumphant; he knew his partner so well.

Aramis leaned in. "Can I get a kiss now?"

"All the kisses," Athos promised and pecked Aramis's lips three times.

"And a sandwich?"

Athos chuckled, relieved and relaxed. "Yes. All the sandwiches, too."

Aramis grinned and took a deep breath. He didn't want Porthos to feel like a third wheel even for a second, so he turned around and loudly said, "Porthos, Athos just promised me _all_ the sandwiches. You're out of luck. Have fun with the chips."

Porthos laughed. "Well, Athos can promise what he wants, but can you fight me for the sandwiches?"

"I might if it's sexy fighting," Aramis began, but then reconsidered. "Alright, since this is zombie apocalypse rules now… I sell the sandwiches for kisses. Roast beef for a peck on the cheek. The chicken one for full-on mouth contact."

Porthos looked at them, calculating. Athos suddenly stood straighter. "Aramis," Athos warned. Porthos had told them he wanted time to think about it.

Aramis realized that he was being pushy, as a joke no less. The two of them had decided to invite Porthos into their relationship, but it all still depended on Porthos. He quickly back-pedaled. "If it's too soon and you need more time… you know I'm not… pushing you. To anything. Just… ignore me." He held out a sandwich but then thought about what if Porthos didn't want that one. "Come here, never mind, let's eat."

"Yeah," Athos blew out a breath. "Sometimes Aramis takes a joke too far. You'll get used to it."

Athos, lovely Athos, probably didn't even realize what he'd just said. What if Porthos didn't want to get used to his jokes or Athos's silences or his little twitches that belied his words? Aramis smiled gamely at Porthos, quietly encouraging him to ignore that 'you'll get used to it' as well.

But Porthos, just came closer and plucked the sandwich from Aramis's hands with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately for you, I really like the roast beef ones," he muttered and leaned in to press his lips against Aramis's cheek, barely making contact before straightening again. He looked at Athos and moved past Aramis, hopefully to do the same thing to him. Aramis turned just in time to see the look of wonder on Athos's face at being so carefully kissed on the cheek.

Athos was Aramis's rock, the one person he knew would never betray or forget him or leave him behind. Aramis relied on Athos in so many ways and always felt like Athos was missing out with him. Because Aramis wasn't broad-shouldered and built, he couldn't envelop Athos the same way. This moment drove home that Porthos would be exactly that, someone who could hide Athos away from the world if he needed it. The thought that it would take the two of them to do that with Porthos crossed his mind and he could already picture them on the couch or in bed together doing just that.

This was why they wanted a third, someone who would provide the perfect piece in the middle. There was a sense of wonder on Athos's face now, that here was someone else who treated him this lovingly. Aramis beamed at Athos and then busied himself with unwrapping his sandwich before Porthos could turn around and see him with that eager expression he was certain he was wearing.

_Give him space_ , he reminded himself and peeled the plastic cover back. "Mmm, chicken," he murmured with his mouth full and sat down on one of the boxes. He leaned forward and looked at the label. "We're idiots. The gift shop uses this place as a storage space. This whole box is full of towels."


	4. Four

"Better too many than none at all," Athos argued and grabbed his own sandwich. "Get up," he grumbled at Aramis and made him get off the box. He reached in and pulled the folded towels out. They were still in their original plastic packaging, so they made for nice seating cushions. He stacked two and watched in satisfaction as Aramis plopped down like invited. He did the same for Porthos and then for himself. Porthos followed suit and sat down.

"Man, I did not expect today to end like this," Porthos said after he had finished his first sandwich. He'd bulldozed through the two triangles in the time it took Athos to open his first package. "To our friends. To getting through this day alive."

Athos reached for another triangle, checked the label and then picked another one. He honestly couldn't say he was disappointed that Porthos enjoyed the roast beef ones. All the more chicken for Aramis and him. "Hear hear," he said then. "Thanks for coming with me today. Not to sound cheesy, but you made all of this easier to bear. And you helped me find Aramis." Athos honestly didn't know what he would do with his life without his love in it. He knew he could never love again like that. Looking at Porthos, he felt he could swiftly and oh so easily include him in his heart as well.

"And you got to know each other," Aramis added, toasting them with the half empty triangle wrapper. He got quiet then and stared at this sandwich. Athos had no words of comfort right now. Hamada had fucked up listening to Hoskins. InGen had no right to send their security force into a fight with just a couple of Tasers.

He knew Aramis would have brought live ammo just in case. They always did, for emergencies, even though they knew they would get a lot of shit if they were caught. They had never needed it. He also knew there was no point in asking Aramis if he had brought any because it implied the follow-up question 'Why didn't you use it?' If Aramis had had the opportunity to use it, he would have, and that was enough for him. He watched as his lover finished his sandwich in quiet and then ripped open a Snickers bar.

"I've learned not to ask," Porthos spoke up then. "I'm still too much in shock to process this rationally. I can't even cope with the fact that they're dead yet, so I can't even begin to ask yet why they had to die, why InGen didn't at least give them the option to use live ammo."

"There'll be an inquiry, most likely. Or they'll hush it up. There's a clause in our contracts that reads like an absolution for their lawyers," Athos grumbled. He was with Porthos: it was too soon.

"I'm glad we got Austin out alive and I'm mostly just relieved and happy that you're alright." Porthos looked at Aramis and smiled. "And you, Captain, even though you got your vehicle rolled because you didn't drive carefully enough."

Aramis chuckled at that, snorting when he got a piece of Snickers down the wrong pipe. Athos patted him on the back just a little too hard. Then he leaned in and chomped down on the chocolate bar, chewing with gusto while Aramis exclaimed his displeasure at the theft. Only after a few playful kisses, did Athos realize that Porthos had just perfectly distracted them both from going into their own heads. He reached out and got Porthos a chicken sandwich for his troubles, thanking him without bringing it up with words.

They settled down soon after. Aramis had started yawning through dinner and was drooping. Suddenly he sat upright again, blinking and yawning.

"Get some sleep, hm?" Athos suggested, never happy to see Aramis force himself to stay awake. He usually had that after a tour. He would be about to fall asleep or actually fell asleep and then suddenly he would wake up again, jittery, as if he wasn't supposed to fall asleep. It hurt to see this so many years after the last time – because the last time had been in New York before they had come to Jurassic World. "We're safe in here, you can let your guard down."

"The doors are reinforced steel and the locking mechanism is in a steel frame, too. Nothing can get through those. You can check the door if it would make you feel better?" Porthos offered.

Aramis shook his head. "I'm good." He ran a hand over his face. "I mean… I'm okay with not checking the door. But I'll definitely go to sleep, yes," he clarified. "You should, too. Are you setting an alarm, Athos?"

That was an excellent idea. Athos pulled out his phone and checked the battery. There was easily enough juice in it for the next ten hours. "Yep, I've got it," he said then and set an alarm. "One for six. That gives us time to look outside, see if it's already light out, and drive back as soon as we can see our surroundings." He was happy to see them both nod. Planning – that was his métier.

Aramis pulled his hood up and spread some of the towels on top of each other. Athos and Porthos watched him for a moment before doing the same. They rolled up some towels to make pillows and then Aramis lay down, stretching out on top of his makeshift mattress, groaning. "I wouldn't mind a mattress, but even so, lying down feels damn near perfect." He yawned again and then tugged the hood over his eyes, hiding half his face.

Porthos got the hint and grabbed the flashlight before heading for the light switch by the door. From where he sat, Athos watched as Porthos turned the flashlight on and hit the switch, watching the bright overhead lights darken.

"Aaand now it feels like lights out in prison," Aramis muttered in the semi-darkness before the light from the flashlight found his feet as Porthos returned.

"What would you know about prison?" Athos asked with a snort. Aramis had never been to prison as far as he knew. And he was pretty certain.

Aramis's voice piped up and his answer was as expected. "Only what I've seen in the movies. I'd even take a prison shower right now."

Porthos chuckled and Athos groaned until cold fingertips scrabbled at his hoodie. Then he yelped and swatted at where Aramis was trying to paw at him. In the darkness, Aramis's fingertips made him think of critters and if he thought of critters now, he'd never ever fall asleep tonight. "Babe, go to sleep," he admonished.

There was a grin in his lover's voice when he replied tartly with, "Yes sir." Then there was rustling and shifting as Aramis tried to sleep on his side because he always fell asleep on his side, but an 'ouch' reminded Athos that his right shoulder was the one that was hurting. He turned back on his back with a sigh. "Good night," he mumbled and pulled the towel on top of him, tugging his hoodie back into place to cover his eyes and half his nose again.

"Sleep well," Porthos said and turned the flashlight off.

In the darkness, Athos was no longer self-conscious about being caught when he was feeling sappy, so he leaned down for a quick kiss and a softly spoken, "Night." Then he straightened again and took the chance to shift a little closer to Porthos so they were both sitting side by side, leaning against the wall with their shoulders touching.

"You alright?" Athos asked. He had spent years in the Marines checking in on his people after hard days. He had always known that with rank came responsibility, even if a lot of the grunts just saw him as some POG at his last posting. He knew how reaffirming it was to tell someone that yes, he was alright, everything was fine, even if it was a lie. Even now, here, he felt the need to make sure his ducklings were alright.

Porthos bumped his shoulder into Athos's and replied quietly, so as not to disturb Aramis. "Yes, I'm fine." He seemed to sense that this was not just an empty question because he answered it sincerely. "I'll be even better once we're off this island," he added a moment later.

They sat a while longer, quiet and tired, listening for any unusual sounds until Aramis was asleep. Athos knew the exact moment when Aramis dropped off into a deeper sleep. He had years of practice, listening to the calm and deep in and exhales.

"He sleeps like a stone," Athos whispered fondly. "He'll nap on the couch sometimes and I can come home and cook dinner and he'll not wake up until I accidentally bang a pot too loudly or something. I don't know how he does it."

"He feels safe."

Yeah, he probably did. Athos leaned his head back against the cement wall behind him. "We're getting out of here. We want to go back to New York, start again." He almost didn't want to ask, but finally he braved the question. "What do you want to do?"

Porthos didn't say anything for a moment. Then he cleared his throat and his breath was suddenly hot in Athos's ear. "Are you two serious about this? Us? Me?" Porthos asked then, his whisper so quiet that Athos almost didn't understand him.

"Yes." That he could unequivocally say for the both of them. "But… we're not looking for… one night or a few nights." Athos didn't know how to put this without feeling like he was pressuring Porthos to commit to a relationship when he had no idea what they were like in civilian life, in the day-to-day grind. This was an emergency situation and he was pretty sure there was a rule about not starting a relationship under fire.

"I got that," Porthos mumbled with a smile in his tone. Athos had no idea where he had gotten that from or why he was smiling.

His heart did a skip when he remembered something else. "And this won't be… you 'sharing' one of us with the other. This will be equal parts. Caring for both of us and getting the same in return."

"You're worried about this," Porthos said then, his voice suddenly halting.

"Yes. There was someone before. A few years ago," Athos began, trying to figure out a way to make this both a cautionary tale and a story for Porthos to learn more about the way they worked. "I got out a few months before Aramis. We knew we didn't want to re-up. Slept on a friend's couch, looked for a job… And I wanted to get us a place before he came home so he'd have a home to come back to, to make it easier. So he could feel safe. He doesn't sleep well when he comes back from a tour." It all rushed out, much like the memories.

"Eventually I just went to a realtor and got a place. David worked there, not the one selling us the place, but he was working there. Charming, nice, one of those people that just talk… and I missed having someone there to just talk. Aramis is chatty like that. I missed him." He swallowed, chest suddenly tight. He'd missed him so much back then. "I told him about David over Skype. Nothing really happened. We went to a museum and a concert and had coffee and lunch a few times. Aramis knew there was nothing to worry about. He knows he has no reason to be jealous. I told him everything. That was it as far as I remember. And Aramis came back and David knew, too… that this wouldn't just be the two of us. I made that clear from the beginning.

"But getting out wasn't working well for Aramis. We went to therapy after," Athos said, suddenly not sure how to continue, thinking the whole timeline was getting jumbled, but this was important to say first. "I thought I was making it easier for him, getting an apartment. It came fully furnished. But he thought he was coming home to a home that he had no hand in making. He didn't realize it at the time. We're good at talking usually." Aramis hadn't felt at home in that apartment. He'd felt like a guest. He'd been overwhelmed by the perfection of it all. Athos hadn't realized that was what it would look like to Aramis. He'd thought he was doing something helpful.

"He didn't feel at home, he didn't sleep well, he couldn't find a job as easily as he'd thought… And all the while, David pushed, 'let's do something,' 'let's go out,' 'let's meet up.'" Athos clenched his hands to fists remembering the shit that David had pulled that he hadn't realized at the time. Like a frog being boiled alive, he'd just not seen what was happening. Aramis had said he was tired so often back then. He didn't like going outside when it was light out because Manhattan had so many windows. He couldn't focus, not after spending the year before looking at every window and every trash bag. In comparison, Athos's last tour he'd spent most of his time in a FOB. He was a brilliant strategist, as they kept telling him, excellent and invaluable at briefings. He'd seen more Concertina wire and HESCO barriers on that tour than ever before. Generals had loved him. It was an easy tour for him.

"That last day, I was at work and David called sometime around lunch to tell me there was a concert at a jazz club I liked. That Aramis would hate it, but we could meet up afterwards." In hindsight, he should have called Aramis. They'd talked through that day with the therapist and he knew Aramis didn't blame him. "I sent him a text. Something funny. He likes all kinds of music, but jazz is not one of them." That was putting it mildly, Athos thought. "I took him to a club once, back when we first started dating, and it was free jazz night and he got a headache, playing it up to all hell, telling me 'never again' and 'too many notes.' He likes some jazz just fine, just don't tell him that's what it is." The memory would have made him smile more than it did if he hadn't known what was coming next. "We got back, not even that late and I thought Aramis might still be up so we could make something of it, you know? And we made it through the front door and David tried to get me to the couch, but… anyway. I got to the bedroom and it smelled stuffy, you know, like it does here." The garrison didn't have wooden floors like their apartment did back then. There was no wood at the garrison period because it deteriorated too quickly. Everything was either exposed concrete or laminate or whatever other plastic crap the building engineers thought would stand the test of time the best. And when he got in after a long day and the AC wasn't on or when he woke up in the morning, the air was just stale and smelled horrible – Athos hated it.

"Hm?" Porthos asked quietly, prodding at him to continue.

"He hadn't even gotten up that day," Athos concluded his story quickly because he still found that hard to talk about. "David either didn't care or didn't want to bother."

"He wanted to split you two up," Porthos guessed correctly. In hindsight, it was clear that was what David had tried to do. He'd thought he could 'seduce' Athos away from his first lover or something. Athos had spent more than one session with the therapist trying to figure out if he had somehow given any indication that he was interested. She hadn't exactly laughed at him, but absolved him from the blame with her words. Aramis had, too.

"Yeah. I told him to get out, that it was over. I cried for an hour and called my best friend. She knows people from her job… and the next morning we went to see a therapist. Aramis got diagnosed with depression. We went to therapy a couple of times, together and separately. And then we decided we needed to get away for a while, just the two of us." There was nothing else to say. Those few months had cost them something, but it had also made them stronger.

The end of the story was sudden but Athos had burned himself out talking about this that he just stopped. Porthos shifted in the dark and something crinkled. "And you left New York? Came here?"

Athos nodded into the darkness. "Yeah. It's been great. It allowed us to focus on just the two of us until we were ready to admit that just the two of us just isn't what we're looking for. And then Aramis met you. And believe me, he talks about you."

"He's never… said anything. I mean…" Porthos trailed off, probably realizing that it wouldn't sound nice to Athos's ears that Aramis had never told Porthos about him.

"Probably because I worried," Athos concluded, not wanting Porthos to think that he was feeling slighted. He had enjoyed Aramis's stories, he had honestly meant to meet Porthos for a while now, but there had always been some excuse. He could admit to himself that he had simply been afraid. He had never told Aramis to hide him, to not talk about him, but Aramis was nothing if not sensitive and attuned to the people he loved. The last time, Athos was the one to meet someone and had caused his lover so much pain. This time, Aramis had met someone 'for them' as he had put it and maybe, just maybe Athos was ready to admit that he had been afraid that this time it would hurt him. He had realized over the course of the day that those worries were unfounded. "I'm ready now, though. You're easy to like and I like the way you look at both of us. Aramis is smitten." He took a breath. "Me, too."

"Then let's do this. Properly. Not decide this in a bunker on Isla Nublar with velociraptors running around and an Indominus Rex on a killing spree. Back in New York," Porthos suggested. "Let's go back, find our feet, and date."

"I'd like that very much," Athos said and fumbled in the dark for Porthos's hand. He squeezed. Then he yawned.

"We better get some sleep as well," Porthos suggested, yawning as well.

They scooted down on their towel beds, trying not to move too much or be too loud as they got comfortable. Porthos was warm next to him, yawning again. To his other side, Aramis made a snuffling noise. Athos took a deep breath. This was the last night of an old chapter of his life. Tomorrow he would start a new one – _they_ would start a new one. Together. He couldn't wait to see what this one would have in store for them.


	5. Epilogue

 

The disaster at Jurassic World had blown up the newspapers weeks earlier and slowly there was nothing new left to say. Eye witnesses had told their stories, victims got out of the hospitals, talk shows had had their fill of crying guests selling their stories to captive audiences around the world. Charles D'Artagnan and Constance Bonacieux told their story shyly and haltingly, the couple who had gotten out last, after a proposal gone wrong. Their story was being celebrated, even though the two seemed quite reluctant to talk to the press. They had spent the night in a shelter with a few Rangers and knew that their being late had caused three men from the security personnel to spend a night in the deep jungle. Charles D'Artagnan had publically and very demurely apologized to the three men on Ellen, but none of them saw the broadcast. Athos heard about it from a colleague and told the others. There were no hard feelings.

From InGen itself, hardly anything leaked. Confidentiality agreements made sure that none of the employees talked and the top managers and lawyers were doing their best to shift blame to those who didn't care anymore. Masrani and Hoskins were dead. Hamada had done his duty but was given his share of the blame for the death of the other ACU team members. None of the guests had seen the Indominus Rex so there was no one to ask about that particular genetic experiment. As far as the public was concerned, Simon Masrani, CEO of Masrani Global Corporation had had a helicopter accident as he was trying to show two of his staff the aviary. One flight shy of his license, he had foregone taking his instructor along. The subsequent crash had not only claimed the lives of the three people in the helicopter but also caused the dome to collapse, thus freeing the pterosaurs. It was an unfortunate accident. Everything else was being hushed up.

The park was kept shut and inquiries were made, but the fact that everyone who had their finger in the pie was trying to get out of this with their reputations and bank accounts intact meant that those who wanted to get away from InGen and weren't important, could leave without much trouble. Athos had gotten himself, Aramis, and Porthos a lawyer to make the severance as smooth as possible and had enjoyed the past few weeks with his boyfriend… or rather 'boyfriends' as it seemed more and more the case.

After getting back to New York, life changed. They agreed to take a few days to settle before setting up a 'real date in the real world.' Those few days changed nothing about the optimism they felt about each other.

Athos and Aramis took their bags to Ninon and Flea's guest room on that first day back. They had gone from Isla Nublar to Puerto Rico. From there, flights were organized to ATL and then to New York City. They arrived two days later and were too exhausted to stay in a hotel. Aramis needed people around him and Athos was happy to oblige, glad to see their friends again after so long.

Ninon was one of his oldest friends and the only one who had not blinked once when he had come out. She had supported him all his life, had accepted Aramis as a brother-in-law at their first meeting, and later understood about how they felt about relationships. She had been the first person he called after throwing David out.

Telling her about Porthos at their first breakfast together at their apartment had been easy. Her reaction had simply been a deadpan, _"You found someone? On that death island? Well, at least something good came from that nightmare."_ He had tried not to be too obvious in checking Aramis's reaction, but his love just nodded into his tea.

Porthos had also flown straight back to New York. Athos knew he was staying with family, although he wasn't exactly sure what kind of family. Family as in friends? He didn't ask. He texted Porthos first, feeling a responsibility and an urgency. They set up a first date, meeting on that weekend. It gave them a few days to acclimatize and make sure that what had drawn them to each other hadn't been a fluke or wouldn't just pass once they were back in the real world.

It didn't. After that first date as a threesome, they had countless others. There were brunches and lunches, museum visits, visits to the park, dinner and movies. By the time Athos and Aramis were ready to get out of that guest room, Porthos was theirs and they were Porthos's. It just clicked and every date simply reaffirmed what they had already seen that day. They just worked. Athos fell in love with Porthos and he suspected he was the last one to fully give his heart away. Aramis looked at him with the most brilliant smile when he admitted as much one night back at Ninon and Flea's.

"I know," Aramis had simply said, kissed him and made love to him so carefully, like he was afraid Athos might burst with love if he was too enthusiastic. He texted Porthos afterwards when Aramis was brushing his teeth. Knowing that he had just had this revelation about himself that the other two already knew, he felt like he should let him know as well.

He sent, **I'm falling in love with you. I'm sorry it has taken so long to tell you.**

The reply came quickly, before Aramis was done in the bathroom even: **Never apologize for being careful with your heart.** And then another one: **I feel the same way about you two.**

They arranged a dinner for the following night, Aramis scooting up onto Athos's pillow so he could watch their conversation on screen, cheek smooshed against Athos's arm. He sent along a selfie of them looking sleepy and content, Aramis already drifting off. This was it. He had had enough time to think about this. Aramis was being patient, waiting for Athos to decide. Porthos was doing the same, giving him space. Athos didn't even know why he was so worried anymore. After dinner the next night, he took them to a hotel, not so much to assert that they were compatible in bed, but more to reassure himself one last time that this was right before they went further. It felt like an appropriate ending to their courtship period. That night and the following morning proved once and for all that they needed to continue this together, in a relationship.

Athos immediately began looking for a place. He didn't want to spend nights at Ninon and Flea's with one of his loves, knowing the other was alone and lonely elsewhere. No one wanted to stay at a hotel, either. He told them as much and received excited looks from both of them in return. Porthos wanted to help, but it took one whisper from Aramis to get Porthos to concede. Porthos gave him his bank account information a day later, muttering something self-deprecating that Athos shut up with a kiss. Aramis would talk to Porthos about that eventually.

Athos decided he wanted a townhouse. He found a realtor and spent an evening looking through floor plans and googling the different neighborhoods. At some point, he was being given food, he remembered. Someone petted his head, someone gave him a foot rub, but he couldn't say who. Hours later, he emerged from the Internet with the perfect find. Next to him on the couch, Aramis was sleeping with his head in Porthos's lap. His feet, curiously enough, were in Athos's and the laptop desk was secure on top of his legs. Athos hadn't even realized that Aramis had offered himself as a table at some point. Porthos woke up at the movement and looked at him with a dazed and sleepy look that said, _I'm happy that you're happy_ , before he leaned back again to go back to sleep.

The perfect home was a townhouse in 85th street with five floors and a home gym and a wine cellar in the basement. There was a spa tub and two bedrooms on the fifth floor that would make great home offices. It was spacious and with its multiple floors, would give them all enough breathing room. He did his best to hide how much it would cost, but the size of the property and its location allowed the others to guess. Porthos blanched at the prospect of struggling to pay off a mortgage for the next decades, but Aramis leaned in and whispered something in his ear again before he winked at Athos.

When he saw the look on his lover's face, he repeated what he had told Porthos, maybe not with that short whisper now, but what he had told him at some point in the past few days. "I told him this is how it works. We just give you the money we have and you pretend it's not just the cost of the basement or the front door." He grinned. He turned to Porthos again, kissing him on the cheek. "Last time he did that, I was huddled in my sleeping bag, staring at my tablet. 'I got us an apartment!' he said like he had just bought a slow cooker or something." He reached out to squeeze Athos's hand. "He got us a home." His eyes were sincere, because he knew now that was what Athos had meant. He couldn't know that Athos had already told Porthos what had really happened.

"So, this is perfect?" Porthos asked, voice not quite raspy but definitely dry.

"It is," Athos said, glad that Porthos was so quick to accept everything they threw at him. It felt unfair, like Porthos accepted that Athos didn't want to talk about this. He was so accepting of so many of Athos's flaws. He didn't want Porthos to feel like an outsider just because he was new to the two of them.

"I have… a trust fund," Athos explained weakly. "And I never sold the other apartment. I've just been renting it out. I know it's a commitment." What if he was moving too fast? What if Porthos still needed time?

Porthos immediately bulldozed over that worry, eyes wide and hands quick to reach for this. "Whatever you're thinking, that's not it," he said hastily. "Let's do it," he said then. "I trust you not to stretch yourself too far. I don't know how much money you've got. If that townhouse is one you can afford, then we should arrange a viewing. Because it really sounds perfect."

Aramis beamed at the two of them, moving in to kiss both of them. "We'll make it beautiful."

"Together," Athos added. "We'll make it our home together."

**Author's Note:**

> This fandom has saved me a little bit. I've enjoyed reading pretty much everything AO3 has to offer and fell in love with so many of your universes and stories. Thank you!
> 
> Also, because I don't know how to meet people in fandoms anymore (Livejournal was so great for that. Tumblr... how do communities work in these troubling times?), I don't have a beta reader. Sorry for that!


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